Afghan elections

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf-Chronicle

Afghanistan had a good turnout in elections for its new parliament on Sunday and has made substantial progress toward becoming a representative democracy. Around half of the 12.4 million Afghans who were registered to vote did, despite calls by the Taliban to boycott the elections.

That's not to say everything went smoothly. There were reports of security incidents at some polling places. And some conservative mullahs tried to intimidate female candidates for the 59 assembly seats reserved for them that could give women unprecedented power in the government.

The fact that election turnout was below last October's rate of 70 percent for the presidential election also indicates the Taliban had some limited success in keeping voters away from the polls.

Still, there's a lot of hope now in Afghanistan that the nation is finally moving forward.

Afghanistan has been a shining example of what can happen when the people, once oppressed, are free to participate in the process. On Sunday, eligible voters cast votes in schools, mosques and even desert tents from ballot papers that had to be transported over rough terrain by donkey or camel.

An Afghanistan that stands up for itself not only will help its own people, it also will help to ensure the nation never again is used by al-Qaida and other groups as a staging ground for worldwide terrorism.