Good over evil

I was cautiously optimistic about how the elections would go in Iraq. So was Andrew Sullivan, a "reality-based " hawk who knows that ultimate success in Iraq is far from certain. In other words, unlike many pro-war bloggers, he is not a cheerleading propagandist. Today, he has this post.

FROM A FRIEND IN BAGHDAD: Here's an email worth treasuring:

Andrew, you should have been here today.
Today, the insurgents lost.
Regardless of what happens tomorrow or the next day, or the day after that, today, the insurgents lost.
Tonite, the bombs and the mortars, and the gunshots which still echo in the streets, sound different.
Men and women, whose children, whose mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, have been murdered by madmen, took a few simple, but very difficult steps, out of their homes and into polling stations.
There will be debates about turnout, and legitimacy, and occupation, and every other conceivable thing, but everyone who is here right now, knows something extraordinary happened today.
Today, the insurgents lost.

I don't want to be excitable, but aren't you feeling euphoric? It's almost a classic tale of good defeating evil. We always needed the Iraqi people to seize freedom for themselves. Given the chance, they have. This is their victory, made possible by those amazing Western troops. This day eclipses - although, alas, it cannot undo - any errors we have made. Only freedom can defeat terror. Today, freedom won.