IRAQI ELECTIONS

Congratulations to the Iraqi people who passed a major milestone on the path to freedom yesterday! John Hawkins at Right Wing News has a collection of quotes about the election which are worth taking the time to read. Unfortunately, not everyone could accept the spread of democracy as a good thing. Recent presidential candidate, John Kerry on Meet the Press tried his best to minimize the positive aspects of these historic elections. He preferred to concentrate on the acknowledged fact that things will not be perfect just because an election was held. What he and the other naysayers are forgetting is "perfect" is the destination not the start or mid-point of the journey. When our country was founded many problems existed (Heck, many still do) but the men of that time focused on getting our country off to a good start. Just as with a building you start with the foundation instead of the window treatments. For our country the foundation was the U.S. Constitution which decades later enabled resolution of problems like slavery which couldn't be addressed at our country's inception. I believe for Iraq creation of a similar constitution is the most important next step. A proper constitution can ensure that future disputes are settled by rule of law rather than by force. While these events are important to the future of the Iraqi people, more important to the United States will be the response over the next couple decades of people in neighboring countries. Freedom is contagious!