Iraqis vote for democracy

Estimated 72 percent turnout

Excerpt:

Speaking at a televised news conference in Baghdad, the official said 72 percent of 13 million registered voters had cast ballots, with polls not expected to close until 5 p.m. (1400 GMT).

The official's statement could not be independently corroborated. Available accounts from polling centres indicated robust turnout in some Shia and Kurdish areas, but low turnout in many Sunni areas.

In neighbouring Jordan, the organization responsible for conducting the absentee ballot said nearly 66 per cent of 280,000 voters registered with the organization had cast their ballots on Friday and Saturday. The voters were spread across 14 countries.

I say:

The high turnout in most of the country proves that the Kurds and the Shia Arabs are ready and eager for democracy. In the case of the Kurds, we already knew that. In the case of the Shia, we presumed it, but now we know for sure.

The only low turnouts to be found are in the Sunni Triangle, where the former oppressors of the country live, and where the remnants of Saddam's regime have openly declared war on democracy as such. Kerry is whining that this makes the elections not legitimate. I say let those mass murdering turds disenfranchise themselves. These are the ones we liberated Iraq *from*.

I still think it would be better to split Iraq up along ethnic divides. But the Kurds have some independence in this scheme, and that's something. This looks like it just might work. Not for the Sunni Arabs, perhaps, but for the other 80 percent of the country.

Chalk up another victory for the forces of freedom, and another - and particularly humiliating - defeat for the haters of democracy, the haters of the West, the haters of the United States, and the haters of Bush. Big losers all.

By the way, a number of Big Lies have recently taken fatal blows. First, the idea that these terrorists were some sort of freedom fighters. Both bin Laden and al Zarqawi have openly admitted that it's democracy they oppose. I remember when Tom Tomorrow mocked the idea that they simply hated freedom. He couldn't refute it, because it was true, so he took recourse to dismissal by ridicule. Why Do They Hate America So Much? Because they're a**holes, that's why. Sometimes things really are that simple.

Second, the idea that the terrorists in Iraq somehow represent the Iraqi People, whatever that is. 72 percent say otherwise. No wonder they hate democracy. Democracy hates them.

Finally, the notion that Iraq was a mistake is looking mighty iffy at the moment.

One thing's for sure: Iraq *is* a quagmire. Just not for us.

Here's Chris Muir's take.

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