Well while almost everyone else in the world, except pockets of bitter bitter liberals, is celebrating the resounding success that was the Iraqi elections. (Some sources report 72% turnout) The guys over at Daily Kos are trying to turn it in to a disaster for their own political purposes, just if you were wondering if they have any souls, they don’t.

The Iraq Election: Defining Success
by Armando
Sun Jan 30th, 2005 at 08:23:02 PST

Is the Iraq Election a success? The early reporting is that there is good turnout among the Shia and Kurds. Does this qualify as success?:

Iraqis voted in their first democratic election in nearly half a century Sunday with many observers saying the day appeared to have yielded higher turnout than expected and less violence than feared. Insurgents killed about two dozen people, including a U.S. Marine. But the level of mayhem by forces striving to disrupt the process was less than predicted, especially in Baghdad where turnout surged during the day amid signs of enthusiasm for voting even in some Sunni areas.

Success?

As expected, turnout appeared to be very uneven around the country, with the majority Shiite community and Kurdish areas participating in the election to a much greater degree than the minority Sunnis. Voting continued in early evening in some places even after polls officially were to have closed. Carlos Valenzuela, the United Nations’ chief election adviser in Iraq, told CNN that he believed that overall turnout was considerably “better than expected.” That assessment was echoed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who said, “Every indication is that the election in Iraq is going better than expected.” Rice conceded, however, speaking on ABC’s “This Week, that “it’s not a perfect election” and added, “there are going to be many, many difficult days ahead.”

The days ahead. Precisely. This Election is simply, in my estimation, an exercise in pretty pictures. Why? Because Elections are to choose governments, not to celebrate the day. Are the people elected capable of governing Iraq at this time? Without 150,000 U.S. soldiers? Or even with them? I have been accused of gloating by people right HERE because of my focus on the continuing violence. But my focus has been on the realities of governing a land in chaos, in the midst of civil war, with 150,000 U.S. soldiers the only force with the ability to provide security. And this is 2 years after the invasion.

I hope I’m wrong on this. I think I am not.

Godspeed for the Iraqis, and God’s mercy for the fools at Daily Kos.

Carthago Delenda Est!