http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6886552/
WASHINGTON – President Bush called Sunday’s elections in Iraq a success after higher-than-expected turnout, and promised the United States would continue trying to prepare Iraqis to secure their own country. The president’s critics cautioned that it was too early say whether the elections would bring peace and stability to the country.
Touching on one of his broader policy goals of introducing greater democracy throughout the region, the president said the world had heard “the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East.”
Bush praised the bravery of Iraqis who turned out to vote despite continuing violence and intimidation, saying they “firmly rejected the antidemocratic ideology” of terrorists.