Afghan Elections a Success!

Despite early charges from candidates who expected to lose that the Afghan election was rigged, international observers have now certified that it is valid and that things were done fairly well for a nations first ever democratic election. For those who missed the "excitement" over the weekend, rivals to much-favored Hamid Karzai charged fraud when it was revealed that the "high tech" (sarcasm intended) indelible ink used to mark the fingers of voters (so they could not vote twice) could be washed off in some cases. The candidates had let it be known ahead of time they planned to challenge any result in which they did not win, but seized upon the ink as a good excuse to formalize the protests. But now, many have dropped the charges in light of international observers conclusions, and the fact that Mr. Karzai appears willing to share power in any case. This is good news for Afghanistan, good news for the War on Terror, and good news for President Bush.

And before you roll your eyes about the backwardness of these polls, keep in mind that Jimmy Carter has already pledged to challenge any result in Florida which does not show John Kerry as the winner. Sometimes Democracy (or even Representative Republic) is messy.