The Little Quagmire That's Not

Scott Norvell on the Afghan election:

The ballot is the size of a pair of placemats strung together. Some of the polling places are so remote they need donkeys to get the plastic boxes back to counting stations. There are 18 candidates on the ballot with zero experience and no party apparatus behind them.

Such is the wonderful world of Afghan democracy. And a wonderful world it truly is, despite the naysaying in certain circles.

Yes, the threat of violence is keeping candidates off the trail and foreign monitors on edge. Yes, the registration process has been messy. And yes, voters in some areas are being intimidated in some fashion or another.

But so far, it's been the little election that could. And barring a catastrophic attack that somehow manages to shatter the stubborn faith of the average Afghan in this process, it should go down as a successful one regardless of whether it is considered "free and fair" by Jimmy Carter and the editorial board of the Boston Globe.

The critics might want to stop and consider the context before they pass judgment.

Read the whole thing. It's encouraging.

Posted by Mitch at October 8, 2004 08:11 AM | TrackBack