Words of Others | Defiant Democracy

Whatever you think about the war in Iraq, it’s hard not to admire the courage of Iraqis yesterday as they “defied a barrage of mortars, rockets and other bombs to show up to the polls in strength,” according to an article in today’s New York Times. There were three quotes in the story that I wanted to highlight:

The deadliest single attack occurred when what the police said was a Katyusha rocket collapsed an apartment building, located in the Ur neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad. The Interior Ministry said 25 were killed.

Mr. Bedawi, who witnessed the carnage, said the attack hardened the resolve of Iraqis to vote. “Everyone went,” he said. “They were defiant about what happened. Even people who didn’t want to vote before, they went after this rocket.”

This one was a sad testament to what the country has been through in the past 100 years:

“We have experienced three wars before,” Ahmed Ali, a supporter of Mr. Maliki, said in Ur, “so it was just the play of children that we heard.”

And this made me smile:

“Don’t be afraid of those cowards,” a police officer shouted from a rooftop to passers-by.