Terry Everett, January 31, 2005

Regardless of the outcome of Sunday's national elections in Iraq, one victory has already been won. This victory is the fact that free elections were held in a nation long accustomed to dictatorial rule and terror. The free election process represents a win for democracy and a defeat for terrorists who offer no hope for the future of Iraq.

As I write this column, Iraqis around the world and at home are preparing to cast their votes in the first free election that nation has seen in at least a generation. The January 30 election will allow the Iraqi people to elect a 275-member Transitional National Assembly (TNA) that will serve as Iraq's national legislature. The TNA will name a Presidency Council consisting of a President and two Vice Presidents. The Presidency Council will then appoint a Prime Minister and approve a selection of cabinet ministers.

In addition to forming a new Iraqi government, the TNA also has the responsibility of drafting the country's new constitution which will be presented to the Iraqi people for a vote in October. On the heels of that vote, elections based on the new constitution will then be held in December as the people set out to install a constitutional government.

The Iraqi people as a whole are showing great interest in these elections. No less than 256 political parties offered 18,900 candidates to compete in 20 different elections - the national election, 18 provincial elections, and the Kurdistan regional government election. The country has compiled a possible voter list of 14.3 million citizens and some 500 voter registration centers were established to help Iraqis register. In fact, the scope of the January 30 election will truly be international as Iraqis in 14 other countries, including the United States, will also cast their ballots.

While the days leading up to the Iraqi elections have been marred by continued terrorist-inspired violence, democracy is moving forward. That one fact strikes more fear in the hearts of Iraqi insurgents and terrorists than any military offensive. A recent headline in The Washington Post illustrates the terrorists' desperation: "Militant Declares War on Iraqi Vote." This January 24 news story reports that Iraq's most dangerous terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has made clear that he and his followers want no part of a free society. "We have declared a fierce war on this evil principle of democracy and those who follow this wrong ideology," al-Zarqawi is quoted as saying.

This terrorist battle cry should sound familiar to Americans who have been repeatedly warned by President Bush that Al Qaeda and its terrorist supporters around the world are enemies of liberty and free society. Al-Zarqawi's desperation shows very clearly why not only Iraqis, but all free nations must be ready to protect their liberty. It is also a keen reminder that the United States must remain committed to the global war on terror.

In the coming days as the American national media weighs its news coverage towards the terrorists' frantic attacks and not on the miracle of democracy that is springing forth in Iraq, it is best to consider that the birth of any free nation is messy and painful. America, too, experienced internal opposition and doubts abroad as it strove to forge a democracy. Iraqis know that when they control their own destiny, they have hope for a better future. The elections for the first time are giving Iraqis hope, while driving a wedge into Arab terrorist cells.

Congressman Terry Everett, a Republican, represents Alabama's Second Congressional District, which includes the state capitol, Montgomery.