THE HEADLINES SAY IT ALL

IRAQIS FLOCK TO POLLS....Boston Globe

IRAQIS DEFY THREATS AS MILLIONS VOTE....Washington Post

JOY EXPLODES ACROSS IRAQ....Washington Times

DEFYING THREATS, MILLIONS OF IRAQIS FLOCK TO POLLS...New York Times

Check out the front pages of newspapers from around the world here.

The most popular photograph of the day is that of an Iraqi woman holding her fingers in the "V" sign for victory (or peace, or both) with the tip of her index finger covered in paint, the indicator that she has cast a vote. It is fast becoming the symbol of the election, which is being seen almost universally as a triumph. How many Americans, I wonder, would come out to vote if they thought they might be blown up by a suicide bomber, as some Iraqis were yesterday? There is one story, in the Washington Post I believe, about voters whose polling place was bombed refusing to leave, so determined were they to cast their ballots. Another story tells of an Iraqi man who had to be carried to the polling place because he had lost a leg in an earlier suicide bombing. He said he would have crawled to the polling place, if necessary.

Read the stories, when you have the time. Read (in the New York Times, no less) the story about how the Arab media refused to play up the violence, instead centering their coverage on the elections. Read about the elation, the "party atmosphere" in some places, the stories of whole villages trooping to the polls. This is why our young people have sacrificed so much in Iraq. This is why over 1,000 of our best and brightest have lost their lives. To give the people of the Middle East, a region vital to the security of our own country, a chance that they have never had before, to enjoy the privileges and frustrations of free, democratic government. There can be no more powerful way to fight the forces of intolerance and barbarity than what we saw happen yesterday in Iraq.