Watching this young lady vote in the first Afghan election is humbling. Her face says it all. Thanks for posting this.

That's a beautiful pic...

I haven't felt this good about anything since the barbed wire went down from around the Central European country where my wife was born.

This is a good day for everyone, even those who don't understand it.

Predictably, in the absence of an al Qaida or Taliban attack on the Afghan elections, the MSM has had to find other stuff to criticise.

It appears as if some voters were able to vote multiple times because the ink that was used to mark people as having already voted was water-soluble.

I don't know how big of a deal that is in reality, but whatever went wrong here, its not a security problem (as so many had predicted) but rather another UN cockup.

Seeing the Afghan voting in free elections warms the heart...we should be proud.

The Howard re-election is huge. It is a harbinger of things to come in our election. He not only won, but by more than the polls showed going in to the election.

And notwithstanding AP's (the new Pravda) attempt to frame the election as between a stable older gentleman (Howard), that is seen as a good steward of the economy, versus a younger and sometimes "undsciplined" Latham, the election was about the very same thing that ours is about...the Iraq war and the war on terror.

The Bushies are gonna be very. very pleased with Howard winning and outperforming the polls.

I think the Howard victory is great news, and I bet the Bush administration has let out a big sigh of relief on that one.

I am glad the Afghan elections went off mostly without any problems, the multiple voting issue aside, it didn't sound like it was a major factor, and this is also good news for the administration.

To my friends on the left dont be discouraged....a great victory for the left today, also....all those who passionately defend the rights of homosexuals, women, and disenfranchised voters......not the debate, but the elections in Afghanistan. Instead of being stoned, subjugated, these minority groups are getting their first taste of freedom. Thank God, we did not confine ourselves to some police action against OBL. To all the soldiers families who lost loved ones, your soldier did not die in vain. For those of us serving in Iraq, we look forward to seeing the same in January.

She's better looking stuffing that ballot box than any contestant in a beauty pagent. I hope Captain Dan can see her. This stuff truly brings tears to the eye.

Bill, I'm going to ask you to take this post down. Every time I click back I get more and more maudlin, sentimental, misty, choked up, mawkish, and verklempt. I'm trying to eschew romanticism, Bill, and you're not helping!

It's really got it all, doesn't it? And it's all true.

Ummm . . . so were Howard and friends in the middle of the Australian National Anthem or something? I'd hate to think that this is what Aussies look like when they're just standing around. For some reason they remind me of Cartman in the special olympics.

I'm going to drink some nice big Australian red wine tonight to toast and celebrate our allies. Anyone got a suggestion?

Try a Penfolds Hyland red. I'll raise a Tupper's Hop Pocket Ale to Australia tonight. What the- is this Vodkapundit?

Somebody just please make sure Jimmy Carter is good and sat on.

This will make you feel good too... its related... http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP118678.htm

So, was there voter fraud? Probably. Rampant? I doubt it. Does this invalidate everything? Considering the amount of fraud that has happened in U.S. elections, what with Tammany Hall, the history of Chicago, etc., I prefer to view it as a blip. This isn't perfection, this is progress, and I'm plenty impressed by this progress.

Geoff Matthews

You forgot Florida 2000, disenfranchising the black vote, the GOP rent-a-mob and the politicisation of the supreme court, conveniently I suppose.

So 15 of the 18 candidates decide to boycott the election as flawed? Count on it, they're the losers.

Bet the UN was in charge of selecting the ink.

Inside A Conservative's Mind
http://luzsa.blogspot.com/

The 9-10 October Financial Times offers contributor Mike Steinberger's latest column in which he interviews Robert Kagan of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and The Weekly Standard. Kagan, you might recall, was one of the leading proponents of the war against Saddam Hussein and his gang of henchmen. Incidentally, Kagan's wife is currently an adviser to VP Dick Cheney.

The piece is interesting for several reasons. First, it offers a glimpse into the thinking of someone who's been influential in Conservative/GOP circles over the years. His thinking, I suspect, is a reflection of the thought shared by many on the ideological right. Second, Steinberger successfully draws out several insightful quotes, worth noting and discussing. Third, it's the kind of interview sorely lacking in today's mainstream US newspaper. I encourage you to look it up at http://snipurl.com/9ns6 .

Here are a few snippets. You decide if it's just spin. For FT newspaper subscribers, see p. W4, "The pros and neocons of the Iraq war." So we get through as much as possible in this space, I've grouped Kagan's responses. Naturally, there's a great deal more in Steinberger's column, but here are a few notables:

Post-War Iraq Planning
Kagan: "I'm surprised by how ill-prepared the Bush administration was to handle the war's aftermath. But we can overcome a lot of mistakes."

US, the 600 Pound Sumo Wrestler
Kagan: "If you go back and look at the history of American foreign policy and American occupations, we don't win on brilliance. We tend to win on combination of will and economic and military power. We're like the 600lb sumo wrester -- if we keep leaning on someone long enough, they ultimately fall over."

Abu Ghraib, US Occupation
Kagan: The prison abuse scandal is "a secondary issue for most Iraqis; what mainly concerns them is not the American occupation but who is going to be running the country."

Why Saddam Hussein was Deposed
Kagan: "I don't care what anybody says -- we didn't invade Iraq in order to turn it into a democracy and make it a beacon for the rest of the Arab world. That was an ex post facto rationalism -- a correct one, in my opinion, but not the reason the US went to war." Instead, writes Steinberger, Kagan believes that Saddam Hussein was deposed "because of the weapons he was believed to possess and the danger he was thought to pose to other countries, not least the US."
[My Note: The Deufler report makes clear that Saddam wasn't seeking nuclear weapon capability. While the world's intel orgs (eg, Brits, Russia, etc) agreed that Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs, some continue to squarely pin the blame on President Bush.]

Real Reason Why Germany Didn't [and won't] Send Troops To Iraq
Kagan: "..European publics, and to some extent governments, did get the message of March 11 [the day Islamic terrorists struck in Madrid, killing 198 people]. I believe that some element of the reluctance of the German government to send troops to Iraq is the knowledge that it would make them more of a target."

Why a Kerry Win in November Would Benefit US
Kagan: "There are many reasons why, in theory, the US would benefit from a Democratic victory. It is important for the Democrats to own the war on terrorism and not simply be the opposition. Also, we would have a fresh start with the Europeans and other allies, though they would quickly be disillusioned to learn that Kerry wouldn't be that different from Bush in some respects."

Kagan, a Neocon? He Doesn't Think So
Kagan: “I’m not at all comfortable with the term [‘neocon’] – in a lot of people’s minds, it means things I personally don’t agree with. It is equated with willful unilateralism; my preference is for multilateral action.”

###

All in all, a pretty good weekend for freedom and democracy.

Kagan: "I don't care what anybody says -- we didn't invade Iraq in order to turn it into a democracy and make it a beacon for the rest of the Arab world. That was an ex post facto rationalism -- a correct one, in my opinion, but not the reason the US went to war."

He's simply wrong. Very, very wrong. In relation to the war on terror, that is actually the most important reason to go into Iraq, and Wolfowitz made the point passionately before the war.

People can complain about the neocons if they want, but the fact is no one else has any real plan to end terrorism. I mean end it, not just hire more cops, more security guards, more border patrol, more Coast Guard-- and more firemen to put out the fires after the "inevitable" happens.

We faced a similar choice in Reagan's time. Many (including most intellectuals) believed we could never defeat the Soviets, that it was foolish and dangerous to try, that the Soviet peoples' character was just such that they liked communism better than our way of life, and we should just try to co-exist with them with the least possible friction. Reagan had the moral courage to ignore the intellectual class (for which he was continually labeled "stupid"), to oppose the Soviets, to speak out against the wrongness of their system, and today the "unconquerable" Soviet machine is a loose collection of nominally friendly countries, many of them democratic. Terrorism is no more inevitable or unconquerable than the Soviet Union was.

With the election in Afghanistan, the US is safer today.

postit -

your talking points are so tired, re: 2000 election. You ignore the results of the independent recounts, the military ballots, etc. And the selective disenfranchisement of blacks in Florida seems to conveniently overlook the fact that they had to be felons in the first place to be bumped off the rolls. At the very least provide links and acknowledge the other arguments or shush.

Also talk about Dem ballot stuffing in Minnesota, please.

Only liberals today could take something great and hopeful like the Afghan elections and try to make something negative out of it.

How typical...

Howard's win bodes well for Bush and is a vindication for the Bush doctrine.

The Afghan elections are a huge victory for Bush.

Because of Bush, over 50 million people in Afghanistan and Iraq are free from brutal dictatorships. That is quite an accomplishment...not too many people can say that about their lives. If the Nobel Peace Prize Committee had any sense whatsoever, Bush would receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Viva Bush...

Let's also remember that for Kerry spreading democracy is no high priority...even according to the WaPo:
"Sen. John F. Kerry indicated that as president he would play down the promotion of democracy as a leading goal in dealing with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China and Russia..."

Interesting that Kerry's proposal to de-emphasize the spread of freedom has also drawn some criticism from advocates of human rights:
"For Kerry to set up human rights as opposed to national security suggests his head has been in the sand the last two months," said the director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth.

That's Kerry: for him democracy is no big deal.

>>>If the Nobel Peace Prize Committee had any sense whatsoever, Bush would receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Sorry, those are reserved for those who either spend decades sending suicide bombers into Israel or who allow Iran to be taken over by religious nuts and then get duped by both Kim Jong Il and Hugo Chavez.

It's clearly not the Nobel Freedom Prize. In fact, shouldn't it really be named the Nobel Appeasement Prize?

Conservatives don't win the Peace Prize-they are too evil.

The Ballot Box: Where we separate the men from the Spaniards.

"The struggle of today is not altogether for today. It is for a vast future also"
--Abraham Lincoln December 31, 1861

Capt. Eggers, I suspect, understood this far, far better than John Kerry does, or ever will.

Bill - don't forget the legacy media's attempt to 'declare victory and get the hell out' by calling Florida for Gore before the polls were even closed in the (heavily-Republican) panhandle!

Everybody - once you've contributed to CPT Eggers' memorial, find a family near you who lost a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan and contribute to their memorial fund. Honor their sacrifice.

6049 http://harley-parts.owns1.com harley parts
harley davidson parts
motorcycle parts

3117 http://www.totallyfreecreditreport.org

1641 http://texas-holdem.ownsthis.com texas holdem

645 http://www.slots-big.com slots
online casinos
poker online.
internet poker
online poker
online poker

537 http://www.online-casino-one.com
online casino
craps