Ho Hum

Iraq’s provincial elections were conducted successfully today. The Associated Press headlines:

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It’s just a typo, though, or maybe a Freudian slip. What the AP actually reports is:

Iraq’s provincial elections have wrapped up without any reports of serious violence.
Polls closed at 6 p.m. local time (10 a.m. EST) on Saturday–an hour later than planned. Millions of voters cast ballots for influential regional councils around most of Iraq.

Turnout seems to have been dampened somewhat by a ban on motor vehicles that was imposed for security reasons. I’ll hazard a prediction, though, that turnout will prove to be higher than in our own election last November.

The elections represent a great success for the Iraqi people and one more sign that President Bush’s–or rather, the country’s–effort in Iraq will go down in history as a success. If Iraq’s democracy succeeds and inspires similar progress in other Arab countries, it could be a success of epic proportions.

If President Obama has said anything about today’s elections, I haven’t seen it. There doesn’t seem to be anything on the subject on the White House’s web page, which features lies about Lilly Ledbetter. Congratulations, anyway, to the people of Iraq.

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UPDATE: More good news: January saw the lowest death totals for both Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers since 2003. And Barack Obama has congratulated the Iraqis on their successful elections.

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