If one were to listen to the nation's leading Democrats on the post-election state of Iraq, the American government would bring its troops home, admit defeat and give in to the forces of evil. It is especially interesting how many members of the Brandeis campus were unable to differentiate between the less-than-innocent rhetoric of a political party seeking to de-legitimize a Republican president, and the current reality. After two years of ravaging warfare, Iraq has held free elections for the first time in 50 years. It took America 20 years to put together its own version of free elections, and yet Brandeis Democrats, as always, fail to recognize this achievement. To say the least, I was disappointed with my liberal friends on this campus. I hardly agree with them on many issues, but especially on this, I could not understand what planet they were coming from. On a campus where voting is assumed as a right and where expression of free speech is an ordinary, daily occurrence, the Iraqi elections may seem like nothing extraordinary. On a day where celebration was rampant thousands of miles away in Baghdad, the mood in Waltham was no different from any other day. While left-wingers Michael Moore and George Soros had nothing to say after the elections, neither did the Democrats on campus. Human rights, in the form of a free vote during on Jan 30, would never have happened if the Brandeis Democrats had their way.

From my conversations with Brandeis Democrats, they unfortunately tow the old and worn-out Democratic line. A month ago, the security situation was so terrible that elections would not be possible, according to former President Jimmy Carter. Now, the elections were just not good enough, according to my liberal friends.

But this arrogance, from my perspective, is amazing. When Brandeis students and Americans vote, there is no threat of attack or terrorism; this places the Iraqi elections in an even greater light. Even the Sunni Muslims-who threatened to boycott or delay the elections because they feared that a Shiite majority might take over the country-knew that President Bush meant business when he said that the elections were going to happen.

In conversations with people on this campus, the elections changed nothing. Those who opposed the war still oppose it viciously. Those who supported it support it enthusiastically. But what I find discouraging is how the elections have done nothing to force liberals to see at least one good sign in what the president is doing in Iraq. Democrats on this campus see no optimism even where it readily exists.

Thankfully, we have a president who understands that, on matters of foreign policy, we cannot waver. The terrorists will not affect him or his decision to spread democracy to a part of the world that sorely needs it. The signs from Iraq are extremely positive. I just hope that those on the Brandeis campus, especially Brandeis liberals, can have the humility to take their own medicine on this one if it turns out that we succeed in Iraq.

Whether one disagreed with the war in Iraq, withdrawal and negativity will help no one. Certainly, expressing negativity is a patriotic right. But with the authoritarian Arab world quietly cheering on the terrorists, maybe for once we can all get along in supporting the Iraqi people's attempt to put together a government that represents all facets of society. Sometimes, statements from the Democrats doubting democracy in Iraq make one wonder whether it is about Iraq's quest for democracy at all, or just about the continual de-legitimatization of the president.