I hope that you are already getting bombarded by phrases like 'courageous Iraqi voters' and 'big step forward.' It's all true and deserves to be repeated. Today was a great day for ordinary Iraqis, all the more so considering the people like me who weren't really sure that they had it in them, and not to mention the bad guys who were doing their bad stuff right up till the last moment.

I spent all day locked in the Green Zone (don't get me started) talking on the phone to my Iraqi colleagues and friends around the city. It was a pleasure. They were ecstatic and thankful.

Here's what I wrote a little while ago to one of my American friends who has been working here since just after the invasion...

Even a realist like you has to admit that this was a day to warm all our hearts, and even bring a little tear to the eye. Over the next few days, I imagine that we're going to hear lots of complaints about little this and that going wrong, so we need to be particularly careful to stop for a moment now and revel in what just happened. I wasn't here in the good old days - I didn't arrive till the bad old days had started - and I don't think that I've ever heard so much joy in the voices of my Iraqi friends.

wish you could have been here.
rob