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“A Happy Day for All Iraqis”
By Ali Elizabeth | January 31, 2009
My title is in quotes because it is the recorded sentiment of Prime Minister Maliki who, along with millions of fellow citizens, once again defied the nay-sayers and voted, signifying courage with a purple-dyed pointer finger, dipped in a pot of color to prevent padding the polls. Just as in the three elections for which I was privileged to be present in Baghdad, the passion to choose the direction of one’s country’s policies and leaders burns on in my cherished Iraq.
One frail elderly man walked about two miles to the polls with his son, who provided a chair for him to sit down and rest every few feet. He said, “I will wait here until the night. I must vote before I die.”
I must vote before I die. There are no words to describe what it is like to be amongst such people. I tried with all my heart to describe this fierce committment to freedom in my book, A Ballad for Baghdad: An Ex-Hippie Chick Viet Nam War Protester’s Three Years in Iraq. I reckon how well I succeeded is going to be in the mind of the reader. But I can tell you this: whenever I get saddened with my own country’s choices of leadership I am reminded that it is indeed failure that can inspire people to “get after it” again.
I was on Instant Message the other day with “W,” a female interpreter who attended our on base church near Baghdad International Airport. Born and raised in a strict Muslim family, she had become a Christian and befriended many of us. She joyously told me she was going to come to visit here in the States in March. To say I am excited about seeing her is an understatement. Here is a woman who put her life on the line every day so her country could be free. However, part of me squirmed inside when I thought of what she might encounter in the States. Iraq is coming out of decades of socialism, and we are heading straight into it.
Iraq has sheiks who have defied centuries of division, and along with Marines started the Anwar Awakening, with tribes coming together for the first time to craft a free Iraq. American lawmakers want to defy basic economic operating principles and reward greed yet again. I could go on with a list of comparisons as to how this infant Iraq seems to be exercising more wisdom than her American counterpart, and I am sure there will be many things that shock “W” when she gets here.
But what I do know she will encounter is something that she lived with in her country: people who refuse to give up when they were in the seemingly weak and undisputed minority. I know she’ll find people who are weeping over America just as she has wept over Iraq. And I believe that as our tears mingle, solid answers in a shaky time will emerge. I look forward to our adventures, and the answers to many prayers for true freedom and pure deliverance from those who make and love lies.
Topics: Ballad for Baghdad, the Book | No Comments »