DO IRAQIS WANT DEMOCRACY? David Adesnik looks at the polls.

UPDATE: This report sounds like good news, too:

Although no official vote figures have been released, authorities estimate just under 70 per cent of Iraq’s 15 million registered voters cast ballots Thursday.

The big turnout – particularly among the disaffected Sunni Arab minority that boycotted the election of a temporary legislature last January – have boosted hopes that increasing political participation may undermine the insurgency and allow U.S. troops to begin pulling out next year.

Democratization is a process, not an event. But it’s a process that seems to be moving ahead.