Who would’ve thought the Iraqi elections would go so well? Or that the insurgency would fail so miserably in their promised efforts to undermine them? Count me among those who hoped for the best, but feared for the worst. Some of the pictures floating around the web–of everyday Iraqis (and Iraqi women!) defiantly brandishing ink-stained fingers–speak louder than an entire decade’s worth of hot air and empty promises from Western politicians and bureaucrats.
I think that this is an answer to prayer in the most direct sense. I think that people and congregations the world over have been praying that the elections would go well, and that God answered those prayers. There are no doubt countless problems ahead, but let’s hope this is just the first of many victories by the Iraqi people over the dead-end barbarism of an increasingly irrelevant insurgency movement.
Things have gone wrong and will undoubtedly do so in the future. But for the moment, let’s set aside the (sometimes justified) pessimism, and rejoice in a genuine leap in the right direction. Way to go, Iraq!

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