Democracy In Iraq
Polls Are Open
Turnout At +70%

I just got up to hear news reports of high turnout, low violence, and smiling, enthusiastic voters in Iraq. Then I read the first three hours of liveblogging reports by Roger Simon who paints a positive picture. Reports are also filtering in that some of the most ardent naysayers are now switching positions.

I'm not so naive as to think that the battle for democracy is over, however, a bunch of neurons in my brain are giving each other high-five's.

[Update 0945 EST] Chad Evans at In The Bullpen writes of the initial reactions to the elections. Notably, the leftist media, in particular the NYT, are negative, entirely missing the significance of the event.


Election in Iraq
From a Turkish Press report:

Long lines of people were also reported outside voting stations in Kurdish strongholds such as Arbil in the north of the country.

But Taha Hussein, head of the local council in the Sunni Muslim stronghold of Samarra said nobody would vote there because of safety fears.

Six explosions rocked Mosul, another insurgent bastion in northern Iraq but officials said turnout there was high.

Saddam's hometown of Tikrit was said to be a ghost town. An AFP correspondent went to eight polling stations where staff said no-one had voted.

There is no doubt that the terrorism and fear will continue, but there also seems to be little doubt that democracy has been well received by the Iraqis. Early estimates of Iraqi voter turnout exceed that which usually occurs in the U.S.