Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
February 1, 2005

"Let Freedom Ring"

by George Denise, Scoutmaster

Since we have been voting for our new leaders in the troop for the past two weeks, I thought it might be appropriate to talk a little bit about elections.

Something very exciting happened this past Sunday. The citizens of Iraq were able to hold free elections to vote for new leaders for the first time, after being under the rule of a brutal dictator for the past 35 years. I hope you got to see at least some of the television coverage, to see their jubilant faces, and to see them dancing in the streets.

Somewhere between 60% and 70% of the eligible voters turned out to vote. That is a higher percentage than turn out to vote in the United States. That is probably understandable: they have not had a freely elected government and there were many and diverse candidates running; everyone from a member of the old royal family who wants to re-establish a kingdom, to members of the communist party, to social democrats. How they vote in this and the next few elections will determine the future course of their country.

In the United States, the nature of our country is already pretty much decided. Virtually all of our serious candidates are moderate. They are all well-educated and have access to the best intelligence available. Any of them are going to represent the interests of the majority of our citizens, so it really isn’t as important that everyone vote in every election; though they should.

It is understandable that the Iraqis would have a better turnout. At the same time, however, remember that the terrorist insurgents threatened to murder anyone who voted. In fact, they also threatened to blow up the polling places and disrupt the elections. Given those threats, it might have been understandable if the Iraqis had stayed home, but they didn't. Choosing their new leaders through free elections meant too much to them

The terrorists did attack and damage somewhere between 30 and 60 polling places, but that was just 1% of the total of the 5,000 polling places available. Approximately 50 Iraqis were killed in these attacks; but that is less than one-100 thousandth of one percent of the 22 million people who live in Iraq.

I am very proud of the Iraqi people, that they have come so far in such a short time. I am very proud of the United States of America, along with the other countries that helped them, for doing so much to make this possible.

Some have been critical of our government, saying we shouldn't be there, that we shouldn't be helping the Iraqis. That too many of them are opposed to democracy. That the war has dragged on too long. That it has cost too much American money. That it has cost too many American lives. That we should get out now.

I can't help but think about another country that fought a civil war; a revolution against the then dictatorial monarchy of England. That fledgling nation was the United States of America.

Funny thing: about 20% of the Iraqis opposed the elections this past weekend. In 1775, 20% of the population of what was to become the United States opposed going to war against England.

The war in Iraq has taken a little over two years, to date. The American Revolution took nine years.

The war in Iraq has cost the United States $120 billion so far, and will probably cost double that or more before it is over. Between 1778 and 1782 the French provided supplies, arms and ammunition, uniforms, and most importantly, French troops and the might of the French Navy to support the beleaguered Continental Army; as did the Germans, Spanish, and Dutch. It is hard to put a price on the support the American Revolutionaries received from France and these others; suffice it to say, it was probably the equivalent of a greater amount than we are providing Iraq today.

Over 2,000 Americans have lost their lives fighting in Iraq (out of an American population of 280 million). Over 18,000 Iraqis out of some 22 million have lost their lives fighting this war. In the American Revolution, over 4,000 Americans lost their lives in direct fighting, another 31,000 from injuries that became infected, and from war related disease out of a total population of only 2.5 million. The French, fighting on our side, saw 10,000 of their soldiers die; the Germans, 7,000; the Spanish, 5,000, and the Dutch 500.

While we have been in Iraq for a little over two years, we will probably be there quite a while longer, at least several years, I would imagine. It took two years from when the fighting began until elections could be held. The French, the Germans, the Spanish, and the Dutch continued to support us for nine years during our Revolutionary War, and then for another twelve years after that until our constitution was written and we were able to hold our first elections.

War is not pleasant. Neither is living under a ruthless dictator who it is estimated killed over 600,000 of his own people.

With the help of many others, the American colonies waged a successful revolution against the British and succeeded. Out of our victory, the roots for many revolutions were planted. In 1775, there were no democracies in the world. There were no free nations. Today, out of some 206 countries in the world, 186 are relatively free. Over half of them have constitutions modeled at least in part on that of the United States. Only twenty countries remain not free. Most of those are in the Middle East.

In the past three years, two countries in the Middle East, with the help of the United States and other countries around the world, Afghanistan and now Iraq, have held free elections. We will have to wait, perhaps many years, to see if they last. Freedom does not come easy. There are many standing ready to take it away. In the words of Thomas Jefferson. "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance."

I wish the Iraqis, the Afghanis, and all people everywhere struggling for freedom only the very best.

Thank you for listening. And God be with you!