The polls are open and people are voting, almost with a vengeance. One polling station was hit by a VBIED this a.m. and an hour later they were open again ... and people lined up to come in. I'm sure much of the press will focus on the polling stations that have troubles, and not the ones that have long lines of excited people, but this is a momentous occasion -- democracy to Iraq.
One of our local staff members just came back from voting. This is the first time in her life that she or anyone she knows has been able to actually vote for anyone she wanted. She came back elated, jumping around and really excited.
This is a big deal for the people of Iraq, you can feel the vibe. My being a small part of it has me feeling good about this assignment again. That said, I have a February 8th departure date schedule as my business here is handled for the time being (with some time in Amman, back to CA mid Feb). I plan to nudge things along from home and I might come back to finish it up someday, hopefully things will be on the upswing by then.
