Security, economic opportunity lead issues for Iraqi expatriates
But first, they hope the new government can put an end to bombings and other acts of terror that have followed the U.S.-led toppling of former dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
On Wednesday at a combination Iraqi grocery, bakery and restaurant in Nashville, customers ate lunch or bought bread, most displaying the telltale ink stain on their right index fingers indicating they have voted.
Ali Thabet just arrived in the U.S. three months ago from Mosul, Iraq, and was having lunch with his wife in the U.S. Bakery, which sells Arabic and Kurdish breads in the Nolensville Road area where many immigrants live.
“They have to take care of the security situation,” said Thabet, who now lives in Clarksville. “I saw friends and American soldiers killed for nothing.”
Porous borders have been a major factor in continuing instability and violence, he said.
While Thabet was in Iraq for the fall of Saddam and all that has transpired since, expatriates who are part of Nashville’s established Kurdish community see security has top priority for the new government.
“We just want them to accomplish a better place to live ? a safer place,” said Susan Ismail, who emerged from the Iraqi polls in Nashville with a group of family and friends.
President Bush acknowledged Tuesday that an estimated 30,000 Iraqis have been killed since the invasion began.
Still, a recent poll commissioned by ABC News and other media organizations found three-fourths of Iraq residents confident in the legitimacy of the election and hopeful about the country’s future.
Having a popularly elected government in place will show insurgents they have failed to plunge the country into chaos, Abas Al-Ghinen said Tuesday outside the Nashville warehouse where voting is taking place through 9 p.m. Thursday.
“That’s what we tell the terrorists,” he said, raising his ink-stained finger. “That’s what we mean, that they cannot defeat the people of Iraq.”
Better security is needed for Iraq’s roads, power lines and other utilities to be reconstructed, voters said, which is essential to a strong economy.
“In Mosul, we have electricity just six to eight hours a day,” Thabet said. “Unemployment is 70 percent. We have to be able to work.”
Salam H. Issa of Nashville on Tuesday said politicians can foster a strong economy with development and solid management of Iraq’s large oil reserves and strengthening international relationships.
Mohammed Al-Sawaf said Wednesday he would like to see the new government build a strong economy with good jobs.
“We wish we get a nice future,” he said.
Equitable treatment for Iraq’s various ethnic and religious groups was also mentioned by several voters in Nashville as being important.
Nashville is home to the nation’s largest community of expatriate Kurds, estimated to number about 8,000. They were a persecuted minority under Saddam’s rule, as were Shiite Muslims.
“We are looking for a good prime minister who will treat everybody the same, Kurds, Shia, Sunnis,” Hussein Mahdi said after voting Wednesday.
Voters will select a 275-member parliament to serve a four-year term.
Voters are choosing from more than 200 political parties that represent some 7,000 candidates.
Nashville has one of seven voting sites in the U.S., along with three in California and others in suburban Chicago, Detroit and Washington.