There's a certain sort of person who, whenever a vote doesn't go his way, will denounce it as "rigged" on the flimsiest or most imaginary evidence. I don't think these folks really believe in democracy. They just don't seem to respect the express will of the people.

Now I'll meet them halfway, reasonable and open minded fellow that I am. Some elections *are* obviously rigged. In Communist or Baathist countries, for example, where you can only vote for one candidate, and they may punish you if you vote no. And then there are those curously regular voting machine tallies in Venzuela. (Never mind vote "irregularities." It's regularity that's suspicious. When all the percentages come out *identical*, something's amiss.) And yes, I'll even admit that attempts to rig elections happen in *this* country. For example, there those Democrat operatives convicted of election fraud in Missouri over the 2004 elections. They didn't succeed in throwing it to Kerry, though, so democracy was preserved.

But all in all... let's get a grip, shall we?

Let's start by respecting the right of the Shia Arabs and the Kurds in Iraq to determine their own destiny. Lord knows they've lived without this right for decades, and suffered horribly as a result. What sort of person would begrudge them this now?

What sort of person gets all out of joint whenever people exercise the right to self determination after being oppressed for so long? What hearts can be so cold to justice?

Some pretend their hearts are bleeding for the Sunni Arab minority. Would their hearts bleed as much for the whites of Apartheid-era South Africa? In non-democratic countries, it's the *majorities* that are oppressed and mistreated. And now, in recent years, in South Africa, Eastern Europe and most recently in Iraq, they're finally free. I don't have a problem with that, but some people do. I really can't fathom why.

May it be so in many other nations in the near future. Iran has waited way too long. So has Lebanon. And don't forget Sudan.