The Iraqi Democrats have a real shot at winning over average Iraqis.  Key leaders on the American far-Left declared the Iraqi Democrats a lost cause on October 24, 2006.  The Iraqi Democrats have proven the American far-Left to be fools and bigots.  It is time to high-light the 800 pound gorilla in the room: democracy is plainly succeeding in Iraq, pushing the deeper trend of participatory Islam forward.  The 'Purple Finger' strategy is slowly working in Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya and Syria. 

Acrobat Eyvak Sopatayiv, 22, from Kazakhstan, said he worried about traveling to Baghdad.  "I used to hear a lot of news about security problems in Iraq, and I was afraid," Sopatayiv said. "But the reality is different, and it's not what I expected."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/iraq-notebook-lions-tigers-and-bombs-in-baghdad-1.3179954