First Door on the Left

The right is celebrating. Early reports indicate that as many as 72% (update: they’re now saying about 60%) of the registered voters in Iraq showed up at the polls today. Only 44 people were killed. George W. Bush was vindicated… he was right all along.

I don’t want to put a damper on anybody’s celebration. It has been a hard-fought battle to this point with many sacrifices (mainly by our soldiers, their families and the people of Iraq). A day of celebration was earned and is well deserved.

We have to remember, however, that this is a beginning and not an end. Mr. Bush and his supporters must resist the temptation to declare “Mission Accomplished.” Our kids are going to be in Iraq for many years to come. Many will yet come home in body bags.

I am trying in my own mind to not share the gloom of Armando (writing in Daily Kos)…

This Election is simply, in my estimation, an exercise in pretty pictures. Why? Because Elections are to choose governments, not to celebrate the day. Are the people elected capable of governing Iraq at this time? Without 150,000 U.S. soldiers? Or even with them? I have been accused of gloating by people right HERE because of my focus on the continuing violence. But my focus has been on the realities of governing a land in chaos, in the midst of civil war, with 150,000 U.S. soldiers the only force with the ability to provide security. And this is 2 years after the invasion.

I hope I’m wrong on this. I think I am not.

I, too, hope he is wrong. But I fear he may not be.

Frank Rich’s column in today’s New York Times is a must-read, no matter which side of the political spectrum you may inhabit…

Forget Armor. All You Need Is Love

JAN. 30 is here at last, and the light is at the end of the tunnel, again. By my estimate, Iraq’s election day is the fifth time that American troops have been almost on their way home from an about-to-be pacified Iraq. The four other incipient V-I days were the liberation of Baghdad (April 9, 2003), President Bush’s declaration that “major combat operations have ended” (May 1, 2003), the arrest of Saddam Hussein (Dec. 14, 2003) and the handover of sovereignty to our puppet of choice, Ayad Allawi (June 28, 2004). And this isn’t even counting the two “decisive” battles for our nouveau Tet, Falluja. Iraq is Vietnam on speed - the false endings of that tragic decade re-enacted and compressed in jump cuts, a quagmire retooled for the MTV attention span.

But in at least one way we are not back in Vietnam. Iraq hawks, like Vietnam hawks before them, often take the line that to criticize America’s mission in Iraq is to attack the troops. That paradigm just doesn’t hold. Americans, including those opposed to the war, love the troops (Lynndie England always excepted). Not even the most unhinged Bush hater is calling our all-volunteer army “baby killers.” This time, paradoxically enough, it is often those who claim to love the troops the most - and who have the political power to help alleviate their sacrifice - who turn out to be the troops’ false friends.

Click on the headline to read the entire column. It’ll give you something to talk about in the break room tomorrow.

Update: Wow. This fellow thinks that any voter turnout over 50% and fewer than a hundred people murdered spells success. Is this to be the new standard for democratic elections?