Oh please. You are preaching to your right wing choir.

"Intense security" means voting at gunpoint from BOTH violent miliarists on BOTH sides--the US/UK and the insurgency.

This election is taking place under US imposed martial law. There are American Bradley armoured vehicles on the streets, US troops on foot patrols surrounding the polling places, American Apache choppers hovering overhead, gun battles in the streets, suicide bombers blowing themselves and those around them up at the polling stations, mortar attacks--the list of violence is endless. That isn't what a "free and fair election" looks like to me. But what do I know? I'm an American voter.

Now, do I respect the Iraqi people who showed up to vote despite the threats? Sure. If I were an Iraqi I might do the same. Do I also respect those who refused to show up to vote? I certainly do, because if I were an Iraqi, I might do the same.

And those who didn't vote, BTW, includes the 4 Sunni provinces, who have the power to veto the constitution in the October referendum. Their streets are polling places, it is being widely reported internationally, were deserted, and no one was voting. Let's not forget about that, either.

Tomorrow, it is back to the civil war business as usual in Iraq.