Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Terrorist lose Iraqi election

AP via NY Times:

Iraqis danced and clapped with joy Sunday as they voted in their country's first free election in a half-century, defying insurgents who launched eight suicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations. The attacks killed at least 36 people.

An Iraqi election official said that 72 percent of eligible Iraqi voters had turned out so far nationwide. The official, Adel al-Lami of the Independent Electoral Commission, offered no overall figures of the actual number of Iraqis who have voted to back up the claim.

After a slow start, men and women in flowing black abayas -- often holding babies -- formed long lines, although there were pockets of Iraq where the streets and polling stations were deserted. Iraqis prohibited from using private cars walked streets crowded in a few places nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with voters, hitched rides on military buses and trucks, and some even carried the elderly in their arms.

``This is democracy,'' said Karfia Abbasi, holding up a thumb stained with purple ink to prove she had voted.

Officials said turnout appeared higher than expected, although it was too soon to tell for sure. Iraqi officials have predicted that up to 8 million of the 14 million voters -- just over 57 percent -- would participate.

Every vote cast was a vote against Zarqawi and bin Laden. It also showed the weakness of the insurgency. The insurgencts are too weak to attack defended targets. The election meant that the terrorist could not use the two major advantages terrorist have, abiguity as to the time and place of attack. By saying they wanted to stop the election they put themselves inthe position of having to attack the three of defenses around the polling places on election day. They could not do it.