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An Iraqi woman cries tears of joy after casting her vote, outside a polling station in the holy city of Najaf, Jan. 30, 2005. (Faleh Kheiber/Reuters)

WaPo:

Iraq's first democratic election in nearly half a century neared its conclusion Sunday with many observers saying the day appeared to have yielded higher turnout than expected and less violence than feared.

Insurgents killed about two dozen people, including a U.S. Marine. But the level of mayhem by forces striving to disrupt the process was less than predicted, especially in Baghdad where turnout surged during the day amid signs of enthusiasm for voting even in some Sunni areas.

...

The country's electoral commission, in a claim that could not be verified, said at a news conference that between 65 and 72 percent of the country's eligible voters had turned out as of 2 p.m. (6 a.m. EST.) The commission claimed that turnout in Shiite areas was 90 percent.

Adil Allami, chief electoral officer of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, was exultant. "Freedom has won," he said. "We have conquered terrorism."

(Emphasis mine)

If these projections hold up, we're looking at a smashing success. Without a doubt, the level of violence was much lower than anyone expected. A notable quote:

In Najaf, the Shiite holy city that embodies Shiite Muslim hopes for the elections, a light early turnout meant several dozen people at one station in the first hour. Among the first out was Najaha Hassan Rahadi, 58, who broke into tears when asked why she was voting.

"Six of my brothers were executed, and I spent two years in jail" under Saddam Hussein, she said from her wheelchair. "I want to elect a government that represents me."

Read the whole thing.

Scanning a minority of the headlines of a google news search gives us a tedious glimpse of the political unconsciousness of Fifth Columnists:

Bloody dawn to Iraq democracy
Australian, Australia - 25 minutes ago

Iraq vote bloodied by attacks
Swissinfo, Switzerland - 2 hours ago

Iraq poll marred by violence
ABC Online, Australia - 4 hours ago

What's the real story here? That two dozen people died in a country that's a regular victim of terrorism? Or that perhaps 9,100,000 people stood up and demanded Democracy, shedding a half-century of brutal oppression and defying the threats of terrorists? What it would take to wring a positive headline out of those editors is beyond me. Robert Fisk characteristically places clinging to the tatters of his ideological self-worth above the ideals of humanism and freedom:

'What a bloody charade'

No Fisk, your declared belief in "progressive values" is the bloody charade.

Overall though, at this point, I'm scoring the MSM a C+; the turnout's message is undeniable, and the ideological snipers grumble on the fringes. This Reuters headline hits it:

Iraqis Brave Bombs to Vote in Their Millions
Reuters - 39 minutes ago

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin covers the remarkable angle of women voting in a Muslim country:

Will American feminists be celebrating these amazing images and this historic day? The silence is deafening.

Here's one of the first shameful answers.

Outside the Beltway nails it:

But there is an interesting subtext: over and over what Iraqis are saying is that they were “voting against terrorism” or that they “voted for peace.” Which means that this election went from a referendum on the American “occupation” to a rejection of the terrorism of Abu al-Zarqawi.

An Iraqi man shows his dye-stained finger -- signifying he has voted - at a polling station in Basra, southern Iraq. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

That might as well be a middle finger to Zarqawi.

Instapundit has a few typically comprehensive round-ups.

Dean gets brutal and frank:

72% turnout, you reactionary, anti-progressive, anti-humanist pissants.

Iraq the Model remarks on voting:

The people have won. We would love to share what we did this morning with the whole world, we can't describe the feelings we've been through but we'll try to share as much as we can with you.
...
We had all kinds of feelings in our minds while we were on our way to the ballot box except one feeling that never came to us, that was fear. We could smell pride in the atmosphere this morning; everyone we saw was holding up his blue tipped finger with broad smiles on the faces while walking out of the center.

I couldn't think of a scene more beautiful than that.

Iraqis queuing to vote at a polling station in the centre of Az Zubayr, Southern Iraq (AP Photo / Andrew Parsons / Pool).

Curioser and Curioser rounds up more Iraqi blogger reactions.

Day by Day already ran with the "finger" meme:

UPDATE: The number of people estimated to have voted was edited for accuracy (8 to 9.1 million).

Posted by Bill at January 30, 2005 09:27 AM | TrackBack (18)

Comments

Posted by: LuvyaDubya at January 30, 2005 10:09 AM

Posted by: Retread at January 30, 2005 10:20 AM

Posted by: RogerB at January 30, 2005 10:21 AM

Posted by: Just Me at January 30, 2005 12:47 PM

Posted by: MDP at January 30, 2005 05:27 PM

Posted by: capitano at January 31, 2005 09:32 AM

Posted by: TallDave at February 1, 2005 01:22 PM