Sometimes I find myself angered about some ridiculous behavior and I distill my irritation into words as I write. Sometimes I find myself needing to pray and I am best able to express those prayers in writing. Today I find that I'm touched by the innocence and joy of the Iraqi people as they cast their first free votes.
I saw families that dressed in their very best clothes, parents and children and then walked through the dusty streets to stand in line at the polls. They talked and laughed. They celebrated the budding freedom that the election represents. Even while the terrorists in their country carried out suicide bombings at polling places around the country more than half of the registered Iraqis went boldly to the polls to cast a vote. Maybe freedom is more powerful than terror. Maybe the Iraqis know better than the rest of us that it is better to die in freedom than to live in oppression. No matter what lessons history will draw from this period of time and the great changes that are honorably begun in Iraq and Afghanistan I know that I will never forget the joy and the gratitude on the faces of those who were liberated. I hope that I never again take for granted the freedom that I've enjoyed all my life.
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