Iraqi voters not intimidated

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's first democratic elections in 50 years were marred by some dozen suicide bombers, 44 people reported killed and untold numbers of mortar shells that rained down on polling sites and the nation's government center.

The elections were, in other words, a great success.

In a country where coordinated attacks have killed more than 140 people in one day, it was an acceptable number.

"Any death is one too many, but when you look across the board this is phenomenally light," a U.S. military official said.

Because the death toll fell far short of what many had feared, the voting was a clear political victory for U.S. and Iraqi security forces. It was unclear, however, whether the insurgents were foiled by Iraqi security forces and by the 150,000 U.S. troops conducting aggressive operations or whether most of them took the day off to wait for better times, places and targets.

"The streets of Baghdad were not filled with blood as mentioned by the terrorist groups," said Farid Ayar, an official with the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq.

But like many others in Iraq, Ayar seemed to be hedging his bets: The elections were a political win for the interim Iraqi government and the American administration that backs it, but few Iraqis or Americans were prepared to declare the insurgency defeated.

Thaer al-Naqib, a spokesman for interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, was less reserved.

"Today the terrorists lost the war," he said. "It is a historic victory for Iraqis."

While the insurgents failed to derail the elections, they succeeded in dictating how the voting was conducted. No civilian cars were allowed on the streets because of the hundreds, if not thousands, of Iraqis killed by car bombers in the past year. Top Iraqi officials, guarded by phalanxes of Western security contractors, cast their votes in a compound guarded by tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and American soldiers.

Sunni leaders had called for a boycott of the elections, and the mostly Sunni insurgency promised death to those who voted, but people still went to the polls in the most surprising places, including Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown.

U.S. Army Capt. Aaron Coombs was pounding the pavement there yesterday morning trying to get Sunnis to come out and cast their ballots, but he wasn't receiving much encouragement.

An hour after the polls opened, Coombs decided to visit a mosque prayer leader at his home to learn why only one voter had shown up at a polling place near the mosque.

He asked Iman Kamal Alladin, whether he would vote, to show his community it was OK to take part in the election. But the imam, wary of the security situation, said no.

Disappointed, the 1st Infantry Division officer made one last pitch to the imam to show courage.

"If you truly believe the elections are important to Iraq, it is important that you go out and vote and set an example as a leader," Coombs said.

But though the imam decided to sit the election out, sometime after lunch there seemed to be a sea change in Tikrit.

In the morning, even members of the Iraqi security forces charged with guarding the polls said they were uncertain whether they would vote. By afternoon, families with small children in tow were lining up to cast their ballots.

One illiterate woman came into a polling place and told election officials she did not know anything about the people she was voting for but felt compelled to vote.

No official voter-turnout figures for Tikrit were available, but Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq officials in the city said 4,500 to 5,000 residents cast ballots.

Salman Abdul Muhannet, 65, who was among the first voters to cast a ballot at a polling center at a technical school, said he did not see the election as perfect. He said he worried that Sunnis would not be well represented in the new parliament, which is tasked with drafting the nation's new constitution.

But not participating because of fear of violence, he said, was something that never occurred to him.

"If you believe in your God, there should be nothing to fear," Muhannet said.

No violence was reported in the city yesterday, according to a 1st Infantry Division spokesman.

Although Iraqi and U.S. officials stepped up security, 1st Infantry officials had expected attacks on polling sites in Tikrit because of its connection to Hussein.

"I can't believe not a damn thing has happened," said Spec. Joe Siegmann, 22, an infantryman with Task Force 1-18's Charlie Company, as he headed back to the unit's base in Tikrit after a long day of patrolling.

U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces made their presence known. American troops passed out candy to children and reminded residents to cast ballots, while Iraqi troops provided security at the polling sites.

As the members of Charlie Company rolled into downtown Tikrit when the polls opened, their outlook was grim. The night before, several of the company's soldiers called loved ones in the states and wrote farewell letters, just in case.

"It's been a long year," said Task Force 1-18 Staff Sgt. Nicolas Thornbro, 25, of Wichita, Kan. "I have seen a lot of comrades fall. We have spent a long time away from our families. ... Our whole year was given meaning with this one day."

A senior American military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the day was more check than checkmate.

"I would say that effectively the insurgency just lost ... maybe not the war, but the first major battle," he said "It's not over. Peace is not breaking out tomorrow."