February 4, 2005

The Iraqi People Are In Good Hands –Their Own

By Congressman Joe Pitts

A painting called “The Declaration of Independence” hangs in the rotunda of the United States Capitol.  John Trumbull included this painting as part of his series on the American Revolution.  It shows what is now called Independence Hall in Philadelphia .  Thomas Jefferson is front and center, presenting the Declaration to John Hancock for his famous signature.  Looking on are dozens of other people who signed that document.

The painting is not an accurate depiction.  Each person included in the painting signed the document, but they were not all present at the same time.  Many signed later, because of the time it took in 1776 to travel from places like South Carolina and Massachusetts to Philadelphia .

In 1776, however, a gathering of this sort was like a death wish.  The British knew that rebellion was brewing.  A room containing the principal leaders of that rebellion at the same time would have proven a tempting and easy target. 

In the wake of the Iraqi elections, it occurred to me that the men and women who will make up the Iraqi National Assembly are in much the same situation as those depicted in Trumbull ’s painting.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence were not setting up a government.  They were part of a process that led finally to the establishment of democracy.  

In Iraq , the men and women in the National Assembly are part of a process.  Their job will be to draft the constitution that will set up their own democracy.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence faced threats to their lives and imprisonment.  The British were intent on squashing their rebellion.  Many were hanged or shot for treason.  Many died fighting for freedom just a few years later.  And many more lived to see their Declaration become reality, delivering the United States into the hands not of a new monarch, but into the hands of the people.

In Iraq , the men and women in the National Assembly are targets of a brutal enemy.  A week before the elections, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi declared war on democracy and all those who seek to enact it.”  We have all seen the carnage that he and his allies can inflict.

The signers of the Declaration displayed undaunted courage and persistence.  “Give me liberty or give me death,” Patrick Henry said in 1775.  His quote captured the spirit of the time.  Thousands died answering this call.  We honor them today as patriots.

In Iraq , the bravery was no less visible.  Undaunted by the threats of terrorists and suicide-bombers, Iraqi men and women took steps toward establishing a democratically-elected form of government. 

Even at polling places where suicide bombers struck, the Iraqis stayed to cast their ballots.  One man who had lost a leg in a terrorist attack said he would have dragged himself to the polls rather than miss the chance to vote.  A reporter recalled that voters in one neighborhood received phone calls threatening to cut their heads off if they went to vote. 

One woman woke up to the sound of explosions and gun fire.  She recalls that morning: “[H]earing these explosions, it occurred to me the insurgents are weak; they are afraid of democracy; they are losing.  So I got my husband, and I got my parents and we all came and voted together.”

Another Iraqi said that when he voted he wanted just to stand there and enjoy the moment.  But he awoke from his daydream then dipped his finger into the ink well so deep he said he felt as though he were “poking the eyes of all the world’s tyrants.”  The blue ink-stained fingers have become a symbol of pride in Iraq .

Make no mistake; the terrorists are not done yet.  They hate this process; they hate democracy.  And they will no doubt continue their attacks.

But we have every reason to believe that the members of the National Assembly will endure their assaults on democracy.  The people have demonstrated their bravery, and the National Assembly is made up not of Americans or Brits, but Iraqis who can finally trust that their country is in good hands – their own.

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