The sea of purple index fingers, stretching from one end of liberated Iraq to another, told the story.

Like the orange flags and banners that so recently swept Viktor Yushchenko into the presidency of Ukraine, following a stolen election and an attempt to poison him, those purple fingers — marking an Iraqi who braved terrorist violence to come out to the polls and cast a vote — will forever serve as a symbol of Iraq´s march to freedom.

Iraqis by the millions defied the terrorists and came out to vote for their first post-Saddam democratic government: They waited patiently on line, sharing chocolates and juice with each other, clapping and cheering as they waited.

Even in cities like Fallujah and Mosul — hotbeds of the anti- democracy insurgency — Iraqis turned out in unexpectedly large numbers, defying the terrorists and sending the world a message about Iraq´s courage and determination.

"I cannot describe what I am seeing — it is incredible," said Baghdad Mayor Alaa al-Tamimi as he choked back tears. "This is a vote for the future, for the children, for the rule of law, for humanity, for love." Given what Iraqis endured in more than three decades under Saddam Hussein´s brutal oppression, his sentiments hardly seem like hyperbole.

You´d think that the astonishing success of Iraq´s elections would have muted the voices of the Democrat defeatists in Congress. But no — unable to joyously proclaim the election a defeat, they simply declared it irrelevant. (Copyright 2005 NYP Holdings, Inc. 01/31/05)