Paul Greenberg relays a letter from Major Scott Stanger which gives an eyewitness account of last Sunday's election in Iraq. It sounds like they worked hard but the result was worth it:

We had very tight security on the polling sites and all around our area of operation. Iraqi police and Iraqi Army soldiers were at every polling site defending them. I have been planning for about 8 days for this mission and it was the largest we have done to date. Infantry, armor, attack helicopters, engineers . . . you name it, we had it.

The Iraqi government shut down all traffic in the country so the streets were deserted. At about 10am the streets were packed with large crowds of people walking to the polls. We were on edge waiting for more attacks that never came. By about 3pm we could start to let our hair down and talk to the people. The sight was amazing.

Unfortunately, our soldiers were overwhelmed by the arms of the Iraqi people:

The Iraqis' statements to us were all the same: "Thank you for your sacrifices for the Iraqi people . . . . Thank you for making this day possible . . . The United States is the true democracy in the world and is the country that makes freedom possible . . . G-d blessed the Iraqi people and the United States this day . . . We have never known a day like this under Saddam . . . This day is like a great feast, a wonderful holiday . . ."

I shook more hands today than I have ever in my life. If you missed a hand they would follow for a mile to get a chance to shake and say thanks. It was nothing like we expected or have ever seen.

GRTHT.