The Right to Vote

Anyone else fascinated by what's going on in Iraq these last couple of days? I don't care what your political (or even moral, for that matter) views are concerning the war, some of the stories floating out of Iraq are incredible. Over 60% of the voting population braved mortar shells and machine gun fire, suicide bombers with explosives strapped to their bodies, threats and intimidation from extremists, long lines and disorganized polling stations...all to cast a vote for their country's new leadership. It's the first democratic election the country has seen in over 50 years. 85 year old grandmother, crippled and illiterate, was carried to the polling station by her grandsons so she could excercise her right to vote. Blind man, who has been waiting in line since the crack of dawn, has his son read him the ballot so that he can cast his vote. And the truth is that what awaits them all in the near future is more death, more fighting, more suffering. They endured all of this because they hope that their votes can bring peace to their country. Amazing what people will endure when they have hope.

This is the caption for the picture above:
An Iraqi citizen, turning his head to protect his identity, proudly displays the indelible ink on his finger as proof he has voted in Iraq's first free election in over 50 years on Jan. 30, 2005. Everyone voting in the historic election has to mark their finger with the ink to indicate they have already voted as a means to deter voting fraud.