Saturday, October 16, 2004
The Election that Already Happened
The mainstream media (MSM) has done an extremely poor job of reporting on the election in Afghanistan. The reason for their lack of interest is not difficult to determine. Their problem is that the election went remarkably well, and that is viewed as a win for President Bush. You can be sure that if terrorists and Taliban remnants had been successful in disrupting the elections with bombings, rocket/mortor attacks, assasinations, and gun battles, the MSM would be talking about it non-stop. The one aspect of the election that they concentrated on was the problem with the ink at some polling places that was used to prevent double voting. Was the election perfect? Of course not. Were there problems? Absolutely. But if the standard for a successful election is no irregularities, then even America has a long way to go.
The MSM's need to filter information that they deem helpful for President Bush has swept aside a wonderful story. Michael Gonzalez writes about the beginnings of democracy in Afghanistan and the Afghan people who risked their lives to vote. He also points out that the presence of American and international troops in their country is greatly appreciated by the Afghans. One young Afghan man that was interviewed even mentioned the effect a free Afghanistan and Iraq will have on the nation of Iran, since it is sandwiched between the two developing democracies.
President Bush has rightly declared the spread of democracy and freedom to be the ultimate weapon against terrorism. Therefore, this election, in a land that was ruled by a brutal terrorist regime just three years ago, was a tremendous victory in the Global War on Terror. The President has also said that given the chance, a people's desire to be free will conquer their fear of being targeted for simply casting a ballot. In Afghanistan, men and women, young and old, were willing to die for their chance to become citizens of a free nation. America gave them this opportunity, and they seized it. I suspect that when the people of Iraq get their chance to vote, they too will stand against terror and tyranny.
The MSM's need to filter information that they deem helpful for President Bush has swept aside a wonderful story. Michael Gonzalez writes about the beginnings of democracy in Afghanistan and the Afghan people who risked their lives to vote. He also points out that the presence of American and international troops in their country is greatly appreciated by the Afghans. One young Afghan man that was interviewed even mentioned the effect a free Afghanistan and Iraq will have on the nation of Iran, since it is sandwiched between the two developing democracies.
President Bush has rightly declared the spread of democracy and freedom to be the ultimate weapon against terrorism. Therefore, this election, in a land that was ruled by a brutal terrorist regime just three years ago, was a tremendous victory in the Global War on Terror. The President has also said that given the chance, a people's desire to be free will conquer their fear of being targeted for simply casting a ballot. In Afghanistan, men and women, young and old, were willing to die for their chance to become citizens of a free nation. America gave them this opportunity, and they seized it. I suspect that when the people of Iraq get their chance to vote, they too will stand against terror and tyranny.
