We sit on the eve of the first big step towards Iraq's democracy. The Iraqis finally get to vote on Sunday!

Quite a bustle of activity here on post as we get ready for the election! The biggest issue for us is transporting the thousands Iraqi trainees here to the polling stations so they can cast their vote. Our team will be providing some security and logistical support for movement from the post to the polling station a few kilometers away. I will be working at the TOC here on post monitoring the radio and ensuring people can communicate with each other.

Security is tight here on post, although I don't expect anything out of the ordinary to happen. The area around An Numaniyah has historically been calm and stable. We have a pretty good relationship with the locals. The military training base at An Numaniyah provides a lot of jobs for the surrounding area, so the locals tend to see us as a good thing. All the same, we have taken extra precautions to ensure that our post doesn't become the newest headline on Monday morning.

One gets a sense of both excitement and confusion from the Iraqis when you talk with them about the election. The interpreters working with us are anxious to go vote, but you get the sense that they don't entirely understand the process. It is encouraging just to hear them speaking about the election and debating the candidates though. One interpreter was asked if he would vote for Allawi. He replied - and I quote - "Fuck Allawi! What has he ever done for me?" (Clearly the interpreters are learning not just how to speak English, but how to speak American military *lol*)

I suppose you could interpret his response as revealing a cynical attitude about the new government, but in the overall scheme it's exciting that he is able to express his thoughts about the government so vehemently. If he had said such things under Saddam, who knows what would have happened to him?

There are some difficulties with the electoral process over here, which is to be expected since this is Iraq's first election in several decades. After being told of one mix up in the planning leading up to the election, our base commander was over heard muttering under his breath, "God . . . and we though hanging chads were bad." Pretty much sums it up. I predict the first thing we're going to see after the election is plenty of arguing about who actually won and lots of finger pointing and accusations of voting fraud. Really though, is it any different than in the States? Myself, I was wondering if Iraq will now have Red Tribes and Blue Tribes.

Welcome to the wonderful world of democracy Iraq! It's not perfect, it's often quite messy, but when it works it can do some great things. I just hope that the Iraqis don't become too discouraged when their perceptions of what the election can do meet up with the reality of what the elections will do.