The left reacts to the elections in Iraq:

The following is a list of op-ed pieces from traditionally left-leaning columnists. I will add too as needed:

• EJ Dionne in the Houston Chronicle, January 31, 2005: "But not all Iraqis, and here is why euphoria should be held in check. The Sunni Muslim minority that has ruled over the Shiite majority and the Kurds concentrated in the north did not, on the whole, take to these elections."
• Arianna Huffington in the LA Times, February 2, 2005: "But this moment, however moving, should not be allowed to erase all that came before it, leaving us unprepared for all that may come after it. The triumphalist fog rolling across the land has all the makings of another "Mission Accomplished" moment."
• Thomas Friedman in the NY Times, February 3, 2005 (actually gets it right!): "It's about time, because whatever you thought about this war, it's not about Mr. Bush any more. It's about the aspirations of the Iraqi majority to build an alternative to Saddamism. By voting the way they did, in the face of real danger, Iraqis have earned the right to ask everyone now to put aside their squabbles and focus on what is no longer just a pipe dream but a real opportunity to implant decent, consensual government in the heart of the Arab-Muslim world."

Update: Thomas Friedman continues to impress me with his acknowledgement that the elections and a democracy in Iraq are good things. Of course his last comment is debatable:

"Here's the truth: There is no single action we could undertake anywhere in the world to reduce the threat of terrorism that would have a bigger impact today than a decent outcome in Iraq. It is that important. And precisely because it is so important, it should not be left to Donald Rumsfeld."