Agence France-Presse identifies the woman in the photograph above as a Marsh Arab, one from the tribes inhabiting river wetlands between the Tigris and Euphrates — a home scoured by the damming and draining order of Saddam Hussein, reclaimed today through slow restoration with the encouragement and resources of Americans and their allies.
She is an emblem of a country reborn. Observers report that, following a second nationwide democratic procession, Iraqis have directly ratified their first constitution drafted by an elected body. Parliamentary balloting will follow in December, incontestably delivering the Republic of Iraq into the hands of free men. This is a time to celebrate, to congratulate; to give thanks for the providential beneficence responsible for the astonishing courage of men and women who daily resist fear and doubt.
As faith insured this referendum, faith will sustain democratic polity in Iraq and its appeal to the greater Near East. The day has been won, a foundation for a liberal revolution laid. But the enemy — weakened, exposed — remains. Close in, that enemy is the messianic brand of fascism still surrounding Iraq. Beyond, tyranny itself. Free peoples have much work, much duty, entrusted them. Let the Fifteenth of October be a dividend, a vindication and a reminder that liberty can only prevail, for all time, in totality.