It wasn’t as exciting as the first time that Iraq held democratic elections, but it was probably more significant.

I asked my friend Alex Mistri, who spent a year in Iraq working at the highest levels of the American government, what these elections mean to him.

He told me two things.

First, Iraq is slowly but surely becoming a model of democracy in the Middle East.

Second, that having Iraq become a model of democracy is actually a threat to the Iranians, even if the Iranians have some influence on some of the political parties today.

As Alex puts it:   “The road ahead in Iraq no doubt remains uncertain.  But the Iraqis have once again demonstrated – not through word but action – their appetite for representative government.  Increasingly, it must enter the international consciousness – if it hasn’t already – that Iraq is becoming the most democratic nation in the region.”

As it turns out, President Bush might have been on to something with his crazy belief that a place like Iraq could handle democracy.  Alex asked the question, “Might the ‘quixotic’ aims of the previous administration still be within reach?”  Read more...