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On the Streets of Iraq, Scenes of Joy and Determination
A boy greets a U.S. Marine with a playful gesture near a polling station in Fallujah, Iraq. With a security ban on private vehicles imposed in many places for the referendum, children were able to briefly reclaim the streets.
(By Ben Curtis -- Associated Press)
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Abdul Hussein Ahmed, 63, emerged from a polling station in the southern city of Najaf with his purple ink-stained finger aloft. "Five members of my family were killed by Saddam and his people," he declared. "But now, with this constitution, everyone is equal under the law."
In a Shiite holy city, where hundreds of people bear physical and emotional scars from persecution under Hussein, the ousted president, many said the act of casting a vote in favor of the proposed constitution was a repudiation of that history. Shiite politicians dominated the drafting of the document and, along with most religious leaders, have encouraged their supporters to vote "yes."
Still, not everyone followed that advice. Several of those who said they voted against the constitution said they were supporters of Moqtada Sadr, a popular Shiite cleric and outspoken critic of the U.S. presence in Iraq who did not issue an order to followers about how they should vote.
Razifa Hussein Abdullah arrived at the polling station with tears in her eyes. Her husband, Hussein Salim, 67, who appeared to be in poor health, leaned on her for balance as they walked. They had returned several months ago from exile in Iran, where they had fled during the intense scrutiny of Shiites during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
"We suffered a lot, and today I came to get revenge for all these years I stayed away from my country, to feel that I am Iraqi again," she said. "It was a dream to get rid of Saddam, and today is another dream come true."
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In Mosul's lower-middle-class neighborhood of Jazayer, voters expressed their joy over the referendum with a Kurdish debka , swirling and tapping their feet as Kurdish songs came uncontrollably from their mouths.
The debka, a celebratory dance, started at the exit of the polling station in Jazayer and slowly mushroomed. Three uniformed policemen in this northern city were joined by four youths, two wearing traditional Kurdish costumes, and before long the group was a spreading throng.
"When I came out of the polling center, I saw the group dancing. I was feeling great, having voted 'yes,' so I joined in," said Ribwar Ali Murad, 25, a Kurdish student at Mosul University. "I am totally overjoyed with this day."
The dance reached its peak when three police cars passed by, blaring patriotic songs from their loudspeakers, exalting Baghdad and the new constitution.
"I found myself turning and twisting naturally when I heard the police cars playing those songs," said policeman Khjalil Salem Mohammad, 30. "I couldn't control myself."
