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Hopefully a sign of things to come in Iraq::
"A genuine democratic election in war-torn and historically undemocratic Afghanistan is monumental by any account. Early reports indicated some irregularities, but by yesterday morning, monitors from the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe were defending the overall integrity of the election.
Taliban insurgents promised attacks to disrupt the voting but were either thwarted by Coalition and Afghan security forces or had already been rendered incapable of doing much harm. Where once democracy was a distant idea, now it is a reality. The results won't be in for two to three weeks -- the ballots haven't even begun to be counted -- but in a country where electricity is scarce and ballot boxes travel by donkey, that's to be expected. President Bush said it all this weekend when he pointed out that in Afghanistan, 'Just three years ago, women were being executed in the sports stadium. Today they're voting for a leader of a free country.'
Credit goes first to the voters of Afghanistan who braved the Taliban's repeated threats not to vote. Where before Afghans were subjects, now they are an electorate. Credit should also go to Afghan electoral officials and security forces, who administered an election for the first time and kept order despite continued lawlessness in much of the country. Credit also goes to the Coalition forces who routed the Taliban regime, and now guard a fragile and emerging democracy where an abusive theocracy once stood. And of course credit goes to Mr. Bush, whose determination in the weeks after the September 11th attacks to remove the Taliban made Afghan emocracy a possibility in the first place."
Alright that last line lays it on a little thick, but on the whole it's a move in the right direction.
Even refugees were able to vote
AP reports of the elections
"A genuine democratic election in war-torn and historically undemocratic Afghanistan is monumental by any account. Early reports indicated some irregularities, but by yesterday morning, monitors from the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe were defending the overall integrity of the election.
Taliban insurgents promised attacks to disrupt the voting but were either thwarted by Coalition and Afghan security forces or had already been rendered incapable of doing much harm. Where once democracy was a distant idea, now it is a reality. The results won't be in for two to three weeks -- the ballots haven't even begun to be counted -- but in a country where electricity is scarce and ballot boxes travel by donkey, that's to be expected. President Bush said it all this weekend when he pointed out that in Afghanistan, 'Just three years ago, women were being executed in the sports stadium. Today they're voting for a leader of a free country.'
Credit goes first to the voters of Afghanistan who braved the Taliban's repeated threats not to vote. Where before Afghans were subjects, now they are an electorate. Credit should also go to Afghan electoral officials and security forces, who administered an election for the first time and kept order despite continued lawlessness in much of the country. Credit also goes to the Coalition forces who routed the Taliban regime, and now guard a fragile and emerging democracy where an abusive theocracy once stood. And of course credit goes to Mr. Bush, whose determination in the weeks after the September 11th attacks to remove the Taliban made Afghan emocracy a possibility in the first place."
Alright that last line lays it on a little thick, but on the whole it's a move in the right direction.
Even refugees were able to vote
AP reports of the elections
