Iraqi elections not a victory for the Bush administration, according to France, but "a great success for the international community"

Around the world, leaders and editorialists in several countries, even Iran, hailed [Iraq's] elections as historic

Brian Knowlton reports in the International Herald Tribune.

In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair … said the election was "a blow right to the heart" of global terrorism, but warned that it was only a beginning, adding, "There is still a great deal to do."

France, a leading opponent of the war, welcomed the elections and the apparently high turnout rate as "good news." When a radio interviewer asked a government spokesman, Jean-François Copé, whether the polls represented a victory for the Bush administration, he replied that they were, more broadly, "a great success for the international community."

Yeah. Right. And a great sacrifice was what the entire international community made to ensure the removal of Saddam Hussein and the holding of the elections, n'est-ce pas, Jean-François? And so it is that the spin to dilute and/or remove positive references to Bush and his administration (and his country and its type of society) continues…

Belgium, a leading critic of the war, said that it was prepared to help Iraqis draft a constitution. Saying that "Iraqis have chosen resolutely to take their destiny in their own hands," Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht offered the services of Belgian constitutional-law specialists…

I am positive that the Iraqis can hardly wait for the Belgians to send their contingent. Knowlton ends his article with this:

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Iraqis had taken "a huge step forward" and she declared Sunday to have been "a great day."

Visibly buoyed, Rice said that other governments had "to realize that it is our obligation to continue to spread freedom and liberty across the globe."