Sunday, October 10, 2004

Elections and the Third World

Afghanistan has held its first official election, and all I hear from the Western press is "allegations of corruption". I suspect the Democratic Underground (which the Two Johns seem to get most of their crappy material from) will next be charging that Bush, Cheney, and Haliburton rigged the election. That sarcasm aside, why does anyone think that a third world country's first election is going to go off without hiccups and bumps? The miracle is that there is a vote. The miracle was that there was not a massive outbreak of violence in a country that only knows violent exchanges of power. Unless Karzai scores 100% of the vote (cough-Saddam's Iraq-cough), or if Jimmy Carter rushes to certify the results, this event has to be viewed as a success, and a strong step in the right direction for Afghanistan.

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