What Victory Looks Like

I'd call this a Victory:

Iraqis held their most peaceful election since the fall of Saddam Hussein on Saturday, voting for provincial councils without a single major attack reported anywhere in the country.

"The purple fingers have returned to build Iraq," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a televised address after the polls closed, referring to the indelible ink stains on index fingers that show voters have cast their ballots.

The 2005 election took place amid an al Qaeda-inspired Sunni insurgency and was followed by a surge in sectarian slaughter between once dominant Sunni Arabs and majority Shi'ite Muslims.

That violence has dropped dramatically since 2007.

Notes:

Just about every MSM outfit has spent time discussing "glitches" in the Iraqi elections ... I wonder how American elections would look if every little "glitch" became part of the election story.

It's interesting to note, that the Iraqi constitution requires that 25% of the elected positions be held by women.

Basra seems to have gone overwhelming to moderate parties ... and this after the British were defeated there, but the city saved by Iraqi and American forces. The soft approach to the extremists resulted in suffering and chaos ... the "hard knock" saved the city and guaranteed positive election results. Might their be a lesson in this?

Had Democrats had their way, we'd today be watching a bloodbath instead. As it is, for now at least, American soldiers who sacrificed did not do so in vain.

ps: Thank you Mr. Bush.