I've been focused on this region recently for personal reasons and been following the news as relates to the elections. Even before discussing the elections, know that the U.S. forces turned over control of that province to the Iraqi government and it is now operating with the limited support of scaled down U.S. military forces in the region.
It was clear the provincial elections would be a turning point for this region more than any other in the country this time since the Sunni population did not partcipate in the '05 elections. Turnout in that province was a meager 2 percent. A pair of good background pieces on the election's importance here and here.
See below for how things have been going since Saturday's election took place.
Tears stung my eyes when I read the New York Times Headline "No injuries reported in Iraqi Elections," and first reports indicated smooth sailing and respectable participation of about 51% of Anbar's voting population. I was elated since both of my sons have served in that province and suffered deep, personal, life-changing losses there. I was truly, to-the-core elated: No matter how great the level of disdain I hold for George Bush and his administration, no matter how wrong I know this war of choice was to undertake, to me this was a powerful, joyful moment.
Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic summed it up perfectly:
"But the mere fact of the elections - that they occurred peacefully in an Arab Muslim country and that they suggest a real mechanism for the expression of popular political will: this is an achievement of which Iraq and the US military can be proud, and which, frankly, I did not dare expect."
Sunday, a call from my deployed son hinted that there might be trouble after all and I started worrying again. "It depends on if the people accept the results or not." Oh! I get it! Sorta like Ohio, 2004? Florida, 2000?
In 2005, most of the Sunni-majority province boycotted the elections and the Shia nationalist Iraqi Islamic Party won big in the region. Sunnis had no voice at the provincial or national level, and you'll recall the bloody massacres, death squads, headless bodies in mass graves outcome there... Remember Fallujah? Ramadi? They, along with the town of Hit (another town with deadly consequences for some of our military), are located in Anbar Province, the westernmost province in mid-country bordering Syria and Jordan.
Yesterday afternoon the elation turned to worry in the world media when news spread that the Iraqi Army had imposed a nighttime vehicle Ban province-wide. Tribal gunmen shot into the air in Ramadi.
"The brewing crisis threatens to trigger new violence in Anbar, the vast, mostly desert territory that had been center-stage in the Sunni insurgency until tribes there turned against al-Qaida in Iraq two years ago," the AP reported in this piece, which quotes a tribal Sheik saying the Awakening Party's tribes will turn Anbar into "a graveyard for the Islamic Party and its allies..." and another Sheik suggesting there could be a catastrophe if the election results proved fraudulent.
Irish Times has what seems to be one of the first stories on the results. It reports that while Al Maliki's government won out in most regions of the country, the Iraq Awakening Party did, in fact, win the majority over the Iraqi Islamic Party, the nationalist Shia party that overwhelmingly captured seats in 2005. This seems to be confirmed in a sketchy, limited report by Gulfnewsindicating the Iraqi military lifted the curfew and vehicle ban in that province.
It's still tense there in Anbar and will remain so as official results come in. If the Awakening Party does, in fact, capture the majority of seats, it will reinforce their successful efforts in battling Al Queda in Iraq these past two years, and will foster more buy-in into the central government, hopefully. Time will tell, but most will breathe at bit easier at least.