2009.02.02
01FEB09--Election Security Operations Complete
Election Day has come to a close here in Iraq. The day was amazingly quiet and successful.
My team lived at the Iraqi base 24/7 for a few days, as we overwatched their operations. The Iraqi Army fully and completely planned and executed all aspects of the election security operations. More to follow on this.
There were no significant activites, deaths or violence in our area in southern Baghdad during this period. This was fairly representative of the country as a whole.
Over 10,000 Iraqis voted in our area. That is approximately 80% of the population. I will write more extensively on Election Day shortly.
Since Iraqi Soldiers would be fully manning security operations on Election day, all Soldiers rotated going to vote via truck a few days before Election Day. The command encouraged all to participate. I mistook their red-dyed fingertips for blood at first. The dye is used to temporarily mark a man as already having voted.
Rich,
Congratulations to all of you for a safe and successful event! It is great to hear that the Iraqis planned and executed the entire operation. I'm sure that the support lent by units such as yours in the previous months was a contributing factor.
80%?! If only we could get that kind of dedicated effort here in the States!
Comment by Ed S. — February 2, 2009 @ 4:33 pm