Voters and voting in Iraq
The would-be voters may not come out, for reasons of intimidation and fear from the guerrilla/terrorists who may number in the tens of thousands, we are told.
The coalition should understand the real dilemma of the voters, and not be misled by the large turnout of the non-resident voters, who do not face the same threats.
The answer may be found in the subpoena system of bringing people to court. How many citizens in the West have been faced with the problem of appearing in court to give evidence. Does one come voluntarily? No. If it’s your friend or neighbor on trial, what you say to the court is “Give me a subpoena, and I’ll come, force me. I need to show that I had no choice. I still have to live with my neighbor.”
The people running this election, and the military, should consider rounding up the ordinary citizens of Iraq, and transport them to voting booths behind a secure place, and then let them decide what to do.
It needs to be seen that they had no choice, and the citizens of Iraq will be forced to go. Whether they vote or not is up to them, but the important thing is that it will be their secret. They can never be identified.
There is even an example of a variation of this strategy being effective.
In occupied Europe early in the Second World War, there was a Nazi order that all jews should wear yellow armbands for purposes of quick identification. Of course, that made it easy to round them up, and send them off to the extermination camps.
Legend has it that King Christian X of Denmark responded by riding through the streets of Copenhagen on horseback wearing the dreaded yellow band, and was followed by large numbers of Danes also wearing the band. And thus the Nazi purpose was frustrated.