I voted in the last election. I know, whoopee for me. Preceding the election, much was made of the fact that the youth of America would be the crucial turning point for the eventual outcome. Different organizations mobilized specifically in an attempt to urge, cajole, bribe and guilt that demographic into acknowledging its share of the responsibility. Overall numbers exceeded the expectations of many Americans, with 59.6 percent of eligible voters hitting the polls, the highest turnout since 1968. And yet, numbers for the crucial 18 to 25 demographic were not as high as anticipated. Hmm, those kids must have been pooped after casting more than 65 million votes for Fox’s “American Idol.” Ahh, democracy in action.

Why is this an issue now, with months between us and the 2004 election, and only the lingering scent of a few thousand stale inaugural tacos left hovering in the air? Because last weekend, another crucial election occurred in the world, held in the war-torn and battered country of Iraq. Many of us who live in the United States take our comforts and freedoms for granted. And I know I’m guilty of this as well. It is difficult to live in a society of relative peace and free will and be constantly aware of how good we have it.

Yet, I can’t escape the inherent irony of the situation. The Iraqi people were ecstatic for the opportunity to vote in a democratic election because it had been denied to them for 50 years. The Iraqi elections signaled a potential end to the dictatorship they had been living under. It served as an opportunity to return to a previous era where they were able to engage in open political discourses. In the United States, we have been free of a dictatorship since the violent coup d’état of President William Howard Taft, and until this past presidential election, our overall voter turnout was pathetic. Here, Iraqi-Americans traveled from far and wide to polling places to cast their votes. These people were excited and joyful about the opportunity. I can’t recall the last time spontaneous singing and dancing broke out by a polling place. Sure, I’m ecstatic that so many eligible voters participated in our election, but will it last?

True, stories are now surfacing about the multitude of problems with the entire Iraqi voting process. People were turned away from polling stations because they ran out of ballots, and some polling places did not even open due to violence. A country divided between two distinct and contentious factions, groups of “disenfranchised” people not able to vote and suspected irregularities in voting counts? Hmm, sound familiar?

But Iraqis didn’t have Paris Hilton or P-Diddy urging them to “Vote or Die.” Instead, they faced a much more realistic slogan, that of “Vote and Die.” And die they did. Nine different suicide bombers and scores of attacks claimed the lives of 44 people Sunday alone, some of them soldiers.

Bruce Springsteen was not called upon to sing “Born in I-R-A-Q” in a free concert in Baghdad. Michael Moore did not march his “Slacker Uprising Tour” through the city of Karbala. And yet the Iraqi people, flawed elections aside, still braved life and limb to venture out and vote. Kind of makes you think.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.