Sunnis defy violence, cast vote into the unknown

BAGHDAD - An explosion boomed every few minutes on the morning of Iraq's national election. We decided to spend the day in a pivotal and harrowing spot in Iraq's modern landscape: Adhamiya, the neighborhood that was the center of Baghdad's Sunni ethnic cleansing and civil war, and the last place Saddam Hussein appeared publicly as a free man.

This election marks a pivot point in Iraqi politics, especially for Sunnis. Their boycott of the last parliamentary election opened the door to violent means of asserting power. Now, with renewed electoral participation, they may regain political clout.