Iraq has just completed the first step, a remarkable step, in their transformation into a democracy. If history is of any use as a guide, it will be a long and peaceful history upon which they are embarking. There will of course be more violence in the short run, but democracies are by and large peaceful, and in Iraq's case the violent ones are not Iraqis.
On the occasion of their first election, emotions in Iraq seem to be running strong, and close to the surface.
IRAQ THE MODEL
I walked forward to my station, cast my vote and then headed to the box, where I wanted to stand as long as I could, then I moved to mark my finger with ink, I dipped it deep as if I was poking the eyes of all the world's tyrants. I put the paper in the box and with it, there were tears that I couldn't hold; I was trembling with joy and I felt like I wanted to hug the box but the supervisor smiled at me and said "brother, would you please move ahead, the people are waiting for their turn".Yes brothers, proceed and fill the box! These are stories that will be written on the brightest pages of history.
It was hard for us to leave the center but we were happy because we were sure that we will stand here in front of the box again and again and again. Today, there's no voice louder than that of freedom.
No more confusion about what the people want, they have said their word and they said it loud and the world has got to respct and support the people's will.
God bless your brave steps sons of Iraq and God bless the defenders of freedom.
Aasha Al-Iraq….Aasha Al-Iraq….Aasha Al-Iraq.
The mainstream press, unable to join Iraqis in the awesome joy they are expressing, unable even to rejoice in their successful election lest it may look well for a Republican, are spitting backhanded niceties through clenched teeth.
The New York Times
This page has not hesitated to criticize the Bush administration over its policies in Iraq, and we continue to have grave doubts about the overall direction of American strategy there. Yet today, along with other Americans, whether supporters or critics of the war, we rejoice in a heartening advance by the Iraqi people. For now at least, the multiple political failures that marked the run-up to the voting stand eclipsed by a remarkably successful election day.But once the votes are fully counted and the new governing and constitution-writing bodies begin their work, those errors, particularly the needless estrangement of mainstream Sunni Arabs and their political leaders, must be urgently addressed. In the longer run, this election can only be counted as a success if it helps lead to a unified Iraq that avoids civil war and attracts a broad enough range of Iraqis to defend itself against its enemies without requiring long-term and substantial American military help.
John Kerry, ray of sunshine that he is, echos the New York Times and, after dire predictions about the outcome of the elections were proved wrong, does what all good nay-sayers do -- he moves the goal post.
Meet the Press
MR. RUSSERT: Election day, Iraq. Condoleezza Rice, the new secretary of State, has just told the United States and the world, "It has gone better than expected." What is your sense?SEN. KERRY: I think it's gone as expected. I think it was a good report by Brian. I think it starkly lays out the challenges, Tim. Let me begin, if I can, by saying first of all I was just there a few weeks ago. I think our troops today deserve yet again a thanks and a word of praise from everybody. They are at extraordinary risk. They're doing a remarkable job, and I want to give them that credit.
Secondly, it is significant that there is a vote in Iraq. But no one in the United States or in the world-- and I'm confident of what the world response will be. No one in the United States should try to overhype this election. This election is a sort of demarcation point, and what really counts now is the effort to have a legitimate political reconciliation, and it's going to take a massive diplomatic effort and a much more significant outreach to the international community than this administration has been willing to engage in. Absent that, we will not be successful in Iraq.
MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe this election will be seen by the world community as legitimate?
SEN. KERRY: A kind of legitimacy--I mean, it's hard to say that something is legitimate when a whole portion of the country can't vote and doesn't vote.
Kerry grudgingly gives the election a "kind of legitimacy" even though conservative estimates of turnout was 60% of eligible voters, higher than we expect in the US for a normal election. Where is the new goal post? Despite the fact that point number four in John Kerry's four point, success in Iraq plan, was "have the elections" (Kerry: "The four steps were, number one, massive rapid training. Number two, you've got to do reconstruction, and you've got to get the services to the Iraqis. Number three, you've got to bring the international community in the effort. Number four, you've got to have the elections."), the elections are no longer of any importance except as a "sort of demarcation point."
What really matters to John Kerry is "outreach to the international community." He just can't stop himself. In every foreign policy situation, world opinion matters more to Kerry than any other consideration. It's why he lost in 2004, and it's why he is so clueless about the Middle-East. Kerry seems unable to understand that some things are just right, there's no need to ask another country what they will think of you if you do the right thing. Just do it. Do the right thing.
We are very lucky that Kerry didn't win the 2004 election. Yesterday's election would certainly not have happened -- might never have happened. Fortunately for Iraq, and the world at large, it did happen. Thanks to our troops, who did the right thing, and President Bush, who did the right thing, and countless Iraqis, who did the right thing, Iraq is on the road to freedom, and democracy, and independence.
God bless them.
