Karl Popper time!
If Iraqi elections go this well, what hypotheses of yours will you consider falsified, ogged?
I'll give up the notion that my thoughts are not controlled by an evil demon.
Will you reserve the right to still believe that baa's thoughts are controlled by an evil demon?
God damn it. What will it take for Americans to give up this idioticv fantasy that elections==democracy?
There are plenty of countries in Africa that had "successful" elections; that's not the hard part, the hard part is what comes next.
Do we have any real reason to believe that Afghanistan is not going to crumble like a house of cards when a tough problem occurs: When the highest court in the land makes some ruling that follows the constitution but is generally unpopular? When four high-ranking ministers discover just how much they can get away with stealing, but don't get pubished? When TV journalists start saying nasty things about people in power?
But no one here has said anything about democracy. And the elections did go about as well as could be expected. If things fall apart, you can be sure it will be noted.
Let me reinforce ogged's point. I don't think he or I have any illusions about the overnight development of a vibrant, liberal civil society in Afghanistan or Iraq. But safe elections imply, well, safety. That's a big win.
I'm sure the good citizens of Zimbabwe(as an example of a place where elections once went well) would be thrilled by the two posts above.
As for the issue being "elections not democracy", huh????
Surely the subtext to all this is that democracy is on the way in Afghanistan? I mean, it's not like elections, in and of themselves and detached from any subsequent events, are some sort of useful exercise that improves people's lives.