You wouldn’t know it by watching the news, but believe it or not Iraq held successful elections a couple of days ago with no violence. More importantly, it was Iraqi military and police who were in control of security — not American soldiers. 14 out of 18 provinces in Iraq held elections (the other three will be in a separate election later in the year) with thousands of candidates representing every political party and ideology imaginable. This is a first in the Arab world and a historical moment for the entire region.

These provincial elections were held in 14 of the country’s 18 provinces (Kurdistan will hold separate elections, and the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk was deemed “too hard” at present). This was the first post-Saddam election that the Iraqis handled themselves. Iraqi soldiers protected the polling stations. It was also the first election to have international observers in all 712 constituencies. In 2005 terrorist attacks made that too dangerous. Then, more than 200 candidates were killed – this time, eight died. There were 14,412 candidates standing for office, an impressive number.

This was also the first election in which there was no boycott on ethnic or sectarian grounds. There was an enormous spread of views represented on the ballot papers – Iraq is the only Arab country which offers almost everyone, including Trotskyites and monarchists, the freedom to stand for election.

If you notice, there was only a passing mention of the elections by the mainstream media who tried everything to engineer a defeat for America. The cowardly democrats led by Harry Reid also tried to make us lose, but they too failed. The liberal democrats were hoping for failure at the outset, but even the republicans who were initially on board with the mission later attempted to get president Bush to pull out.

The only person who stood steadfast throughout and refused to see America defeated was president Bush. Approval rating, reputation, and legacy be damned he stuck it out, doubled down, and saw us to victory.

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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin launched a political action committee today to help support candidates for federal and state office. It’s called SarahPAC and it appears to be a first step in a potential run for president in 2012 or beyond.

According to the Web site, SarahPac welcomes supporters of any political persuasion and will contribute to candidates of any party who share her ideas and goals. But Palin makes special note of the Republican Party on the site, saying it is at “the threshold of an historic renaissance” that should focus on health care, education and government reform.

Aides said Palin will limit her political activity until the Alaska legislative session ends in April. But she planned to travel to Washington on Saturday to attend the Alfalfa Club dinner, an elite gathering of the capital’s political and media establishment.

I’m glad to see that Palin is refusing to be intimidated or silenced by the despicable left-wing media. The viciousness of the attacks on her and her family were unprecedented and outrageous. I look forward to seeing her back on the national stage again in the near future.

For more information check out SarahPAC.com

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Uzbek President Islam Karimov was sworn in for a third term Wednesday, Uzbek media reported, after an election declared undemocratic by Western observers.

Karimov won 88 percent of ballots cast in the Dec. 23 vote, in which he faced three candidates who publicly supported his re-election.

Four independent candidates affiliated with a political group whose leader has been jailed for alleged financial violations were barred from the race.

Karimov, in power since before the 1991 Soviet breakup, ran for a third term despite a constitutional two-term limit in the Central Asian nation.

While Karimov has been a close ally of the U.S. in the War on Terror, he without a doubt runs one of the most repressive and brutal regimes on earth.

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“I am deeply concerned about the detention of numerous human rights activists and political leaders who participated in peaceful rallies in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, and Nazran this weekend.

“I am particularly troubled by the use of force by law enforcement authorities to stop these peaceful activities and to prevent some journalists and human rights activists from covering them,” Bush said in a statement.

About 200 opposition activists were detained by police at another demonstration in Saint Petersburg on Sunday, one week before Russia is to hold parliamentary elections.

“The freedoms of expression, assembly and press, as well as due process, are fundamental to any democratic society,” Bush said in his statement, which followed State Department concerns expressed Sunday over the events in Russia.

“I am hopeful that the government of Russia will honor its international obligations in these areas, investigate allegations of abuses and free those who remain in detention,” the president said.

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Farid Babayev, who will lead the regional list for the liberal anti-Kremlin Yabloko party was in a serious condition in hospital, RIA novosti news agency reported after an unidentified gunman fired on him in the regional capital Makhachkala.

“The incident occurred at about 10 p.m., not far from his home. Farid Babayev is now in hospital in a serious condition,” said his party colleague and fellow electoral candidate, Ruslan Salahbekov, was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

I’m sure it was a total coincidence that he was shot. Don’t be surprised if his condition takes a turn for the worse while he’s in the hospital and he doesn’t make it.

-Chris Jones

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Left-wing critics of the Bush Administration love to howl about how the President is rolling back our freedoms and trying to create a “fascist” government.

People who are even remotely connected with reality know that’s complete nonsense. However, what’s happening in Putin’s Russia is very real.

Vladimir Putin actually is rolling back freedoms. The Kremlin has near complete control over who can run for office in Russia. The next President of Russia when Putin steps down will be someone he chooses as his replacement. There are opposition candidates running, but it’s really not possible for them to actually win.

Opposition candidates also run the very real risk of being killed by the FSB formerly known as the KGB, as do journalists, businessmen, or anyone else that offends the Putin.

The NY Times is reporting today that Putin’s latest anti-democratic power grab involves clamping down on election observers.

The Kremlin aims to curtail the activities of election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe — just in time for Russia’s December parliamentary elections and March presidential election.

President Vladimir Putin is not trying to bar the observers altogether; that would be too obvious. What he wants is to cut the size of the monitoring missions and stop them from immediately releasing their reports, thus diminishing their impact.

What President Putin is doing is what rolling back Democracy actually looks like, not anything President Bush is doing. As long as liberals can go on TV and call the President a liar and a war criminal and not end up dead, then I think America is still pretty damn free.

-Chris Jones

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-Chris Jones 

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Scores of Bush Pioneers and Rangers are not working for any Republican candidate, citing discontent with the war in Iraq, anger at the performance of Republicans in Congress and a general lack of enthusiasm. More than two dozen have actually made contributions to Democrats.

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