Mad rush to the polls

Arthur Chrenkoff paints a picture so very different than anything we're seeing in American media that I'm forced to ask whether we're all talking about the same country. According to a range of sources, Sunnis are, at the very least, talking a good game about the October election that will ratify the Iraqi constitution:

One of the interesting aspects of the new "no Sunni left behind" campaign is its overtly religious trappings. At Iraq the Model you can check out the flier being distributed by the Islamic Party, convincing Sunnis that voting is a religious duty, supported by Koran and religious tradition. What a difference a few months can make.

Even the dreaded Fallujah is catching on:

'Falluja's clerics council advised the Imams of the mosques and the people not to miss this historical chance and to take part in it through the four centers opened there. Community leaders and clerics organized lectures to educate the people about the importance of their participation and that the constitution is for the interests of all Iraqis, which will decide their identities."'

As this report explains:

'In Fallujah, considered one of the major hotbed of Iraqi insurgency, clerics of mosques called on the residents in the city to participate in the constitution referendum scheduled to be held in mid October.They urged the residents through loudspeakers to participate and say "no" to those who want to isolate them from the political process.The Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni party, also distributed handouts calling on the people to participate the referendum. Many of the residents showed support and desire to participate.'

Four registration centers have now been open in Fallujah, and apparently they're doing great business.

Most bizarrely, both the main Sunni insurgent group, Ansar Al Sunna, as well as Shia radical Muqtada al Sadr, have been calling on supporters to register to vote in the constitution referendum[.]

That sure doesn't sound like the Iraq Chuck Hagel was talking about last week.