Of all the pictures from today’s referendum in Iraq, this one is my favorite.

There is character in that face and in those hands. His visage is an enigmatic guise that masks a lifetime of experience.

Was he a Baathist who is scowling because he believes the constitution will be approved and his country will eventually fragment, leaving his Sunni brethren destitute? Did he suffer in Saddam’s torture chambers, and is grimacing in pain because he has just forced his mangled body to walk the miles so that he might vote “yes”, thrusting a stake in the heart of Saddam’s sadistic legacy? Did he lose his family to American helicopters or to terrorist bombs? Does his heart hold hope or pain? Are his eyes filled with sorrow or triumph? Is his jaw set anguish or exultation?

Whatever his story, today he walked the miles through quiet streets that he might participate in a constitutional referendum that will shape his country’s future, and reverberate throughout the Middle East in the decades to come. With a quiet dignity he holds up his ink-stained finger, a testament to the pride of an entire people.