I Voted ...
Today is the election day, I woke up to excited, and full of hope.. my grandpa, grandma, and dad voted early in the morning at 7 am.. then my mom and I went to the election at about 9 am ..
My heart was beating fast, as I entered the room, it is my first time..
I was expecting to see so many people walking in their way to vote, but there were only few people, I was frustrating, but it is still early , and the election will last till 5 pm.. hopefully those who decided not to go, will change their minds..
How many times we think about ourselves, the things we need to do and use the term "I" in the day? It will be great if people say "Iraq"instead in this day, and put the benefit of the community before theirs, because there's nothing in this day more important than voting to build a better future for us and for our families..
All of my relatives in Baghdad and Mosul, inside Iraq and abroad voted, as well as my friends , even those who hesitated to go, decided to vote after I urged them..
I am so proud of all Iraqis who voted and will…
Sunshine.
posted by Sunshine @ 11:20 AM
36 Comments:
SO GLAD YOU got to vote this time eni!!! Imagine there are many other young, intelligent iraqi's out there like you voting for their first time, hopefully this will influence the vote in a good way this time!!!!
Congratulations on your purple finger!
Congratulations on voting for the first time. It is sad that it still takes a level of courage to exercise your right to vote.
As I write this I read reports that the voter turnout is strong. I hope this is a sign that Iragi's cannot be intimidated and that they want a democratic peaceful country.
May your politician be worthy of your vote and trust to serve the Nation of all Iraqi's wisely.
I've been watching the news for 6 hours (while studying)... and i am so happy, the iraqia list got the highest ratio in mosul (85%) as well as in many places in iraq, i feel like it will win, i am so optimistic .. i also called my relatives and friends in different places of mosul and they all assured me that many participated in the election despite the violence.
The iraqi citizens in Adhameya in baghdad arrested an officer who was trying to stop the people from voting !! all the explosions and random mortars didn't stop iraqis .
iraqis have been always brave and we are determined more than anytime before to have a better future .. nothing will stop us from reaching our goal.
Sunshine
"May your politician be worthy of your vote and trust to serve the Nation of all Iraqi's wisely."
Politicians (in any country) are seldom worthy. They are just human beings, with all the weaknesses, ambitions, and greed of any other humans. The whole point of democratic politics is to find a way to govern with real people as they are, not with imaginary heros and saints.
This is why you need checks and balances, term limits and regular elections. These all keep politicians more or less on a straight path. Take them away, and some mafia boss or fanatic sets himself up as a Great Leader, and steadily becomes more and more brutal and corrupt.
I admire the courage of Iraqis going to vote vin spite of the dangers.
Congratulations Sunshine! God bless the republic of Iraq! We are praying for peace in in your country. I really like reading your blogs. What you report is better then watching the news. :)
You are democracy in action!
Steve from Texas
Congratulations. I am so proud of you for going to vote. I hope your vote is a winner. Even if it is not please keep up your wonderful attitude. The people we vote for do not always win but we must keep doing our best to help select the best person to represent us.
You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine.
Grandpa
Wow! Congratulation on your purple finger and the courage to go our and vote. Hard to imagine you being old enough to vote. I have followed your blog since the beginning and I feel I have seen you go from a young very smart girl to a young woman in a short time. I am happy to have seen you grow no matter what happened to you. Now you have a voice in what happens in your country.
I am so happy that you were able to vote! what an exciting first! I have not yet been able to vote myself, but I am looking forward to the honor as well. How brave you were to do what you knew was right!
-K. Rae.
It was great to see that Purple Finger Pride on the faces of the voters Sunshine : D
Solo
Hey!
I'm an Kurdish girl (17) living in Germany and I wanted to ask whether I can get your email-address because I have to do a research paper on Iraq and the situation there.It would be veryyyy nice and helpful if you could answer some of my questions!I just don't know how to make a contact with you.
So well,
I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
Have a nice day!
Guli
hello all..
thanks for commenting :D
and Guli, chawani ? of course you can e-mail me on livesstrong92@yahoo.com
i also added my E-mail into my profile so that everyone will be able to E-mail me..
hello all..
thanks for commenting :D
and Guli, chawani ? of course you can e-mail me on livesstrong92@yahoo.com
i also added my E-mail into my profile so that everyone will be able to E-mail me..
Sunshine, why do you support Allawi?
Didn't Allawi order the attack on Falluja in November, 2004? Many Americans call Allawi a CIA agent. A prominent American professor, Juan Cole, calls Allawi a CIA asset here:
http://www.juancole.com/2010/03/secular-national-iraqi-list-of-allawi.html
As you can imagine, many Americans don't like the CIA (Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, Moderate, Liberals, Leftists, US uniformed military . . . anti CIA sentiment is across the US political spectrum.) Many Americans aren't endeared by what they perceive as Allawi's old relationships with the CIA.
Are Iraqis and Mosul residents pro CIA?
I feel so excited when reading your blog post, it is full of enthusiasm and hope. May god bless you and your family :)
Lupus Disease Blog
Congratulations Sunshine!
I hope your country has seen the worst and better times are ahead!
Oh good grief Anand:
You want to bring our girl into a debate about the CIA? Good grief!
The reason I assume she MAY have supported Allawi is he ran as a candidate of reconcliation between all Iraqi's. He ran as a non sectarian and drew support from Sunni's, Shite and Kurds. He was not religious but secular.
Anand,
What you have written is not appropriate.People here are celebrating with Sunshine her first participation in an Iraqi general election and you're trying to spoil her and our happiness.
Let me frankly tell you that I did n't vote for Dr. Allawi and I don't approve many of his stands, however I see him as a clever Iraqi politician in his own right who has made a political career out of working in opposition to the former dictatorship since the mid 70s.He worked with the Americans, no doubt some of them are CIA agents, that's in the past but now he is inside Iraq trying to serve all the Iraqi people and the final say as always is up to the Iraqis -and surely not to you- to decide who is going to lead their goverment.That's democracy if you know what I mean.
Hi! Nice blog...and congrats on voting....its good to know so...
i'm new to blogger!
see my blog?
www.life-livingtoday.blogspot.com
I was wrong to ask the question the way I did. I didn't mean to imply that Moslowis supported the CIA.
I am sure that Sunshine is a patriot.
I am sorry.
Maybe Allawi is the best PM for Iraq at this time. If the national assembly selects Allawi; I hope he leads Iraq successfully.
This next PM will be very important. Iraq could be exporting more than 10 million barrels of oil per day in 5 years, versus only 2 million barrels a day in 2002.
How the next Iraqi Government will spend all that oil revenue is a very important question. I hope they spend it well.
thank you Anand .. your apology means a lot for me.
And , to answer your question, we want Allawi because he's better than the others..
we are so afraid from the forgery in the results..
Sunshine
Early indications are that most Iraqi Sunni Arabs voted for Allawi, including most Fallujans.
He might be the best choice for Iraq right now. But then again, I don't know who would be the best PM for Iraq.
I have been told that Allawi will sharply increase the budget of the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Air Force, as well as bring back many generals from the pre 2003 Iraqi Army.
"as well as bring back many generals from the pre 2003 Iraqi Army"
That would be long overdue. Many patriotic Sunnis were never Saddam supporters, they just loved thier country. But to be an officer, one had to be a Baath member.
In Germnany, one had to be a Nazi to hold a major position. Yet when the USA won the war we didn't fire every Nazi who held a postiton. We understood the situation and forgave all those men of good will.
All the patriotic Sunni's must be forgiven and embraced and given back thier postions. They were abused by Saddam too.
In American Democracy, a comment such as that made by Anand would have been immediately countered by a vile and personal attack upon the writer. This would then result in an even more vile reply being sent back by him. Very quickly, the issue at hand would itself be lost to the childish name calling.
In this case, though, the comments by crusader and Khalid were pointed yet tactful. And the result was a genuine reply by Anand. So, if Sunshine’s blog is any indication of the civility of Iraqi political dialogue, then perhaps the future will be bright there.
Congrats on voting!!!!! Every vote counts. :o)
Dear Sunshine,
Here is the latest news:
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's bloc has edged ahead of the coalition led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Iraq's parliamentary vote, but al-Maliki remained ahead in the largest provinces, election officials announced Tuesday.
Allawi's al-Iraqia list was ahead of al-Maliki's State of Law coalition by about 9,000 votes of the more than 4.2 million cast for the two leading slates. But al-Maliki's bloc continues to hold a lead in the expected number of seats in Iraq's parliament since the prime minister is ahead in some of the largest provinces.
I have not visited here in a long time because I was very irritated by your support for the man who threw a shoe at Pres. Bush. As I said at the time, it was an action that did not bring honor to Iraqis.
But I'm glad I came today because my oldest daughter is six weeks younger than you. She just turned 18 last week, and we have a special election here (local) on April 13th. I will remind her that she can register and perhaps still vote in that election. You reminded me of that.
Just to let you know, beginning in June she will be attending a university about 200 miles north of here, planning to study Nursing.
I don't know if you remember my nephew, William. He was a soldier in Iraq and was severely wounded in Ramadi in 2006. He recently left the Army and is planning to attend law school (like his uncle).
Best regards -- and good luck to your candidate, Allawi,
R.R. Hamilton
P.S. We here have heard talk that the troop withdrawl will be delayed. Do you have an opinion on that?
Dear Sunshine,
One more thing: The movie that wonder the Academy Award for Best Picture this year was about an American explosive ordinance (bomb) disposal team in Iraq, Hurt Locker.
Have you heard of the film, seen it, or have any opinion of it?
RRH
Hi, Sunshine,
Congratulations on your brave act... I wish you all the best and am rooting for you here in the U.S.
Hi Sunshine :) I hope all is well. Congrats on being able to vote for the first time. Peace be with you.
Hi sweet girl. I stumbled on your blog by mistake and was so touched by your stories.
I want you to know that I am specifically praying for YOU!!!
You are thought of and loved all the way from Phoenix, Arizona. USA
etv@mchsi.com
With Love and Prayers,
Tina
Hello my friend. I pray all is well with you and your family.
It has been awhile since I have been to your site and read your blog for obvious reasons, but today I felt compelled to read it and say hello, and that I miss our former conversations.
It seems that wealth will be returning to the Iraqi people soon, probably within the next 6 months. Your current Dinar's will become much more valuable, so I am hoping that you and your family have some put back. I believe it is being called Dinar Riches.
I must apologize for the abrupt way our conversations had come to an end. It was all a misunderstanding. Trust is being rebuilt and that misunderstanding is being cleared up as trust increases. I am sorry for any hurt you may have experienced and for any harsh words spoken.
I wish you all good luck, and my God bless you in this present day and years to come.
- Kelly
I'm sorry, but I didn't see any problem with Anand's first comment at all, and he should not have apologized.
Isn't this the point of the matter of the Iraqi election? Sunshine finally being able to express her political opinions, just as Anand did?
Sunshine is an adult now and allegedly in a politically free system, so there's no reason for her commenters to wig out, if she is asked more than just a fawning question. If she is going to discuss political issues, then she is just going to have to deal with the discussions they engender, and that occasionally means coping with tough questions and defending your views.
Sunshine is a very intelligent woman and there is no reason therefor, she can't defend her beliefs and choices by herself.
Any ways, the Iraqi election was much flawed with hundreds of candidates disbarred, and many expatriates votes not being allowed... up to 50 percent of votes not counted among Iraqis in the US (Iraqi Christians were particularly effected).
Nice Blog. . I stumbled on ur Blog accidently and i loved it. . . Wish u a very prosperous future years and a good governance. . . And in your reply to Anand u said u want Alawi coz he is better than other candidates. . I can totally understand it and most of the time use the same concept while casting my vote. . And bout ur posts, let them keep coming
Congratulations my dear, a momentous event, the people have spoken and I hope it brings peace to Iraq, and countries both near and far!
We in the west can only imagine what the conditions are and have been like there, many thanks for sharing your views and life, a wonderful insight rarely seen by those who's judgement have been clouded by the media!
May your future be bright, and keep up the good work :-)
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