Iraqi Elections Are Done: High Voter Turnout, ~40 Deaths

Iraq's first election day since the rise of Saddam Hussein is over, and President Bush is hailing it as a "resounding success." While we should expect no lesser rhetoric from an administraion that has staked so much on this one day, but still you must admit that things are looking far better expected by most experts.

For the first time in more than 50 years, Iraqis cast ballots in democratic elections Sunday and took the first steps to declaring how they wanted Iraq to be governed...As estimated 8 million people — 60 percent of eligible voters — braved violence and calls for a boycott to vote in Iraq. A string of homicide bombings and mortar volleys killed at least 44 people, including nine attackers...Women in black abayas whispered prayers at the sound of a nearby explosion as they waited to vote at one Baghdad polling station. But the mood for many was upbeat: Civilians and policemen danced with joy at one of the five polling stations where photographers were allowed, and some streets were packed with voters walking shoulder-to-shoulder to vote. The elderly made their way, hobbling on canes or riding wheelchairs; one elderly woman was pushed along on a wooden cart, another man carried a disabled 80-year-old on his back.

It appears that the Iraqi populace has done their part and braced suiciders and mortars to exercise their rights. Here is hoping America specifically, and the world in general, now do their part in sticking around until the job is done.