The elections seem to have churned up a whole lot of patriotic fervor in Numaniyah! Tuesday, the first day the roads were open for travel in Iraq, 4,000 Iraqis (that's a four with three zeros following it) turned up at the front gate of our training base wanting to join the Iraqi army.

They arrived seemingly out of no where with no warning or prior announcement. The rumor mill says one of the current Iraqi officers called a cousin and invited him to join up. The cousin then called a nephew, who then called a brother-in-law, who then called his neighbor twice removed . . . next thing we know we've got 4,000 people knocking on our front door wanting to join the army!

It was an adventure trying to manage them all while maintaining security, but what an exciting opportunity! You could feel the energy in these guys ( pic 1 / pic 2 ). One of the Americans captured the spirit of the day perfectly when he said "This is what it's like watching a nation being born".

As they waited to fill out their paperwork we would ask the throngs of people through an interpreter, "Who wants to fight for their country?" and hands would shoot up into the air. Normally Iraqi recruits can be a bit restless and are not willing to wait their turn ( pic 1 / pic 2 ), but these guys stood in line for hours waiting for their opportunity to be processed. ( pic 1 / pic 2 / pic 3 )

Eventually we realized there was no way we could take them all, especially with no prior warning of their arrival. We just couldn't absorb 4,000 new recruits in one day without being prepared. We ended up calling Baghdad, finding out which training bases in Iraq could take soldiers, giving the wanna-be soldiers a form stating they wanted to join the army, told them "Go to such-and-such base", loaded them up on trucks and sent them on their way out the front gate with a wave and a smile. Once they were brought back out to the main road it was up to them to find their way to their assigned post because we simply did not have the resources to transport them all. It will be interesting to see how many actually make the effort to travel on their own to their assigned post.

You would think that being in a small, rural area that would be the end of it. What happened today? We had another 2,000 arrive at the gate. (By the time I arrived to take these pics most of them had already been sent home: pic 1 / pic 2 / pic 3 / pic 4 ).

We were at least a little bit prepared for their arrival today after yesterday's event. We still couldn't take them all in, so after giving them all their forms and a loaf of bread as a parting gift, we told them to come back on the 14th. The idea is that hopefully by then we will be able to coordinate with other bases and make arrangements to transport these people to the various training posts around Iraq.

Man, 6,000 new recruits in two days! That is HUGE! Maybe, just maybe, this election is actually having an effect. Leading up to Sunday's election, the pragmatist in me said the election really wouldn't make much of a difference, at least not right away. Even today some small voice is saying this is just a honeymoon effect. But when you see the way people acted when they had a chance to vote - dancing and singing and smiling. When you saw the disappointment of people who wanted to vote but couldn't. When you see all the workers on post walking around with ink stained fingers. This is something the Iraqi people really seem to believe in.

I know Americans love to be cynical; that it's not cool to be an idealist or to be hopeful these days. But I'm beginning to think President Bush had it right in his inaugural address when he said,

"Because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world."

In just this short time this election has had a tangible effect on the spirits of the Iraqis that I've interacted with. It's really something that gives me pause; it's something inspiring. I wish you all could have been here to see it.