16 October 2005
Vote Shows Iraqis Are Committed to Democratic Process, Rice Says
Ambassador Khalilzad says more than 9 million Iraqis voted in referendum
By Howard Cincotta
Washington File Special Correspondent
Washington – The large number of Iraqis who voted on the country's draft constitution signifies that the base of political participation has expanded, and that Iraqis have chosen the democratic process as the way to a better future, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in several television news interviews October 15 and October 16.
CONSTITUTIONAL VOTE
On NBC's Meet the Press with Tim Russert, Rice observed that perhaps as many as a million more Iraqis voted in the October 15 constitutional referendum than participated in the elections for the Transitional National Assembly in January. The turnout apparently included large numbers of Sunnis, she said.
"Whatever happens with the referendum, the Iraqis people are now invested in the political process to make their views known, and that's bad news for the terrorists," Rice said on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.
Rice refused to speculate about whether the referendum to approve the constitution would pass, but she rejected the argument that its defeat also would mean a defeat for democracy in Iraq.
"If it passes, then democracy has been served. If, for some reason it does not, then democracy has been served," she said on Meet the Press. "The key here is the Sunnis have voted in large numbers. That means they're casting their lot now with the democratic process."
Rejection of the constitution requires a two-thirds "no" vote in three of Iraq's 18 provinces, and initial, unofficial results suggested that the referendum was passing, according to news reports.
Election officials estimated an overall turnout of 61 percent of eligible voters, the Associated Press reported. The New York Times reported that the Sunni turnout varied, with large numbers voting in cities like Mosul, but much lower in Ramadi, where insurgent violence and threats have been intense.
Turnout among the Shiite and Kurdish communities, which overwhelmingly support the proposed constitution, appeared to be consistently high, according to news accounts.
Speaking from Baghdad on CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said more than 9 million Iraqis voted in the referendum, "and the Sunnis were full-fledged participants."
Khalilzad said success in Iraq requires two elements: a political process that includes all Iraqis, and a security system that can protect Iraqi citizens. "Yesterday, on both scores, significant progress was demonstrated," he said.
DEFEATING VIOLENCE
Rice acknowledged that a successful constitutional referendum does not mean an end to violence in Iraq. But the terrorists have shown they are unable to stop the political process, she added.
"There is no political base any longer for this insurgency," she said on Fox News Sunday. "The Sunnis are joining the base of this broad political process. That will ultimately undo this insurgency."
Rice also pointed to the growing strength of the Iraqi security forces in a London BBC interview on October 15. "The Iraqi security forces are getting better," she said. "They are getting trained. They are going to be capable of stepping up and taking on these violent people."
Overall violence on election day was scattered and relatively minor, according to news accounts, and there were no reported deaths among Iraqi voters.
However, five U.S. soldiers were reported killed by a roadside bomb in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, which has been a center of insurgent violence. Earlier, coalition forces, acting on intelligence and citizen tips, detained 24 terrorists and killed at least 12 others in October 14 raids in the Ramadi area, according to U.S. military sources.
On CNN Late Edition, Khalilzad commended the performance of Iraqi security forces, noting that the coalition and Iraqi officials had information that insurgents were preparing significant efforts to disrupt the elections, but failed.
"Part of the credit clearly [goes] to the efforts of the security forces," he said.
DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION
Rice expressed optimism about Iraq's future, saying that "...we have ahead of us the prospect, and I think the very good prospect, of a foundation for a democratic and prosperous Iraq that can solve its differences by politics and compromise, that becomes an anchor for a Middle East that is changing."
"If you look at Lebanon and you look at the Palestinian Territories and you look at what is going on in Egypt," she said on Meet the Press, "this is a Middle East that is in transformation to something far better than we have experienced for the last 60 years when we thought that we could ignore democracy and get stability and, in fact, we got neither."
In her BBC interview, Rice said, "Let's give the Iraqis a vote of confidence and their due. They have gone out in large numbers to vote despite threats, they have gone out in large numbers to vote a second time despite large threats, and they will do so again in December [for a new government]."
For more information on U.S. policy, see Iraq's Political Process.
Transcripts of Rice's interviews on BBC, Meet the Press and Fox News Sunday, and Khalilzad's interview on CNN's Late Edition are available on the State Department's Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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