The Biggest Non-Story of the Weekend

Congrats to the people of Afghanistan who participated in their first free elections in...well...EVER!!! Here's the scoop:

The Taliban vowed to turn the Afghan election into a day of bloodshed, but the rebels mounted only a smattering of small-scale attacks on police and civilians and a larger clash that left many of their own dead.

After months of what proved to be empty threats, military commanders and ordinary Afghans said Sunday the vote was a serious setback for the holdouts of the hard-line Islamic regime that was driven from power by U.S. bombs almost three years ago for harboring Osama bin Laden.

"Yesterday was a big defeat for the Taliban and a huge defeat for al-Qaida," Lt. Gen. David Barno, the top American commander in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press. "It shows that the political process is overwhelming any influence they may have."

Voters also said the Taliban had been exposed as weak.

Naturally, there were instances of hanging chads (see Palm Beach County) and disappearing ink, but the elections were certified nonetheless:

Observers approve Afghan election

International observers have endorsed Afghanistan's first presidential election, rejecting opposition calls for a new poll amid reports of fraud. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said demands by 15 of the 18 presidential candidates to annul the poll were "unjustified".

The local Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) said the poll was "fairly democratic".

Despite the mistakes the president has made fighting the war on terrorism, this is a success of historic proportions. On to Iraq.