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An Iraqi woman voting March 7th, 2010. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
The Associated Press reports today that'Iraqis Defy Violence To Vote In Election'; apparently they value change over the threat of death.
As the United States prepares to leave Iraq, Iraqis need to decided who will lead the country. All Iraqis want to see Iraq succesful and secure again, but the details of that picture are what vary amongst its citizens.
There has been an increase of violence leading up to today's voting in Iraq, of which the article reports as being a result of: '[Sunni] Insurgents who think the voting signifies theShiites claim to power' in Iraq.
Associated Press reports that voters walking to the polls today were targeted by hand grenades, among other tactics, for the purpose of deterring them.
A current *Ann Arbor resident and native to Iraq conveys that there may in fact be truth to Sunnis resisting the new voting and democracy in Iraq. He goes on to say that most Sunni Iraqis fear that the United States has given the Shiites an unfair advantage. Sunnis and Shiites lived peaceably in Iraq for one thousand years; this internal fighting now is something recent; something brought in from the outside.
Dearborn is a 35 minute drive from the city of Ann Arbor, and houses a large population of Iraqi and Middle Eastern immigrants. There one will find an ample mix of Sunni and Shiite Muslims living in the same area. Remarkably, there are no significant reports of a history of fighting or disputes between them.
It is, perhaps, something to ponder on.
*The person, born and raised mostly in Iraq, would like to remain anonymous at this time
