Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS

by Joby Warrick

In any case, President Bush was adamant about keeping on schedule. Under the White House’s plan, there would be elections for a constitutional assembly, then a new Iraqi constitution, then a second round of voting for a new Parliament, and, finally, a legitimately chosen Iraqi government that would assume responsibility for the country and its myriad problems. Even a single day’s delay would mean postponing the moment when the United States could symbolically hand over the keys and move on. “The president,” Ford recalled, “would not hear of it.” On January 30, 2005, millions turned out to cast ballots in the country’s first democratic election. TV news programs showed smiling Iraqis holding up fingers dyed with purple ink to signify that they had cast their votes. True to Zarqawi’s warnings, insurgents carried out scores of attacks, mostly on polling stations in Sunni areas. At least forty-four people died. U.S. and Iraqi officials declared the election a success. Despite the violence, Zarqawi had failed in his threat to “wash the streets in blood.” Yet, by another key measure, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq had achieved exactly what he wanted: throughout the country, from the Syrian border to the Persian Gulf, Sunni voters stayed home. In Anbar Province, the participation rate among Sunnis was a mere 2 percent. Over the next ten months, other Iraqis would approve a draft constitution that would decide how power and oil wealth would be divided among the country’s three maj...