Democracy working in Iraq???

With the United States celebrating a newly elected leader, Iraq is actively engaging in promoting their own democracy. For the first time since 2005, Iraq has opened voting booths for elections of public officials. The elections will put approximately 400 members into a council role throughout the different regions within Iraq. They will be responsible for budgetary items, security issues among other tasks. There are many that claim this election will indicate or provide an idea of what to expect when national parliamentary elections are held at the end of the year.

The preliminary results are that the voting turnout has been a success. Many assumed that violence would be widespread with some local groups showing resistance. Although there were reports that a few individuals running for positions had been killed during the week, overall the belief is that this process has been a success. Seems hard to believe that the process was a success when people were killed, but I guess it's all about perspective in this case. Some issues did arise, such as where people were to go to vote, voter's registration not being updated or accurate, and residents opportunity to get to voting centers. The hope was to get approximately 70% participation. Results should be known later this week.

The progress of Iraq seems to be encouraging to the United States and the success of this initial vote will probably help justify the withdrawal of American troops. The military presence throughout the region was mainly Iraqi with is also encouraging. Although it's not safe to say Iraq is self sustaining just yet, given that American troops helped with the voting process, but were not forceful is promising and shows progress in the liberation of Iraq. The real test will be at the end of the year, when voting takes place for parliamentary positions, including Prime Minister. There are plans to start the withdrawal process this June and if all goes well with the next voting procedure, the process could speed up.

A couple questions come to mind:

1. Can the U.S. make an assumption based on a relatively small gesture of democratic activity that our tasks have been accomplished?

2. Being such a young democracy, if you can call it that, is Iraq happy with the new direction of their government? Can it be sustained and trusted in the long run?

These are all questions that will have to be answered in time.