Iraq: Inside the Inferno – Election Day: Early Morning

21 July 2011

I remember writing these words during my first month in Iraq. The war was full on and it was anybody's guess how that first election day would land. Here are some thoughts I penned during that time:

Here on the ground, it is clear that Iraq already is embroiled in civil war. But the war has not crossed some imaginary threshold whereupon people have labeled it civil war. Some would call the current state “civil unrest,” seemingly reticent to hazard uttering more ominous words, perhaps fearing the self-fulfilling power that words often bear. Or, perhaps, they are timid to speak the obvious. Whatever the label, people are being murdered here every day, often randomly and in spectacularly horrendous attacks. US experts are predicting massive suicide and other disruptive actions to thwart the elections.

A critical moment in Iraq’s future history is only seven days away. Nobody knows which direction the elections will lead Iraq, the region and, by extension, the world. If the painful journey to democracy eventually works, the implications for civilization might be as profound as those precipitated by the “unimaginable” fall of the Soviet Union. But if Iraq disintegrates into full-scale civil war, the future of the region will be less predictable than next year’s rainfall...

Click here to view a slide from "Iraq: Inside the Inferno 2005-2008"

Read the complete post at http://www.michaelyon-online.com/inferno-book-update-election-day-early-morning.htm