Reassessing Assumptions in Iraq

In Letter from Ground Zero Jonathan Schell notes that he learned something on January 30th:
"I had not thought that, two years after Saddam Hussein's fall, such a powerful current of longing could well up. I did not believe that an election with 7,000 candidates, most of whose identities were secret, could inspire such enthusiasm. Above all, I did not believe that so many Iraqis, whose dislike of the American occupation is wide and deep, would seize an opportunity provided in part by that same occupation to express their desires with such clarity and force. On the contrary, I thought that national pride--one of the most powerful forces of modern times--would prevent it."