That's what the BBC's Paul Adams (surrounded by election posters) has just said in his report on today's Iraqi elections - the first in which Sunni Iraqis are playing a full part. James Forsyth quotes this from the New York Times (another media entity often critical of Iraq):
“Iraqis voted on Saturday for local representatives, on an almost violence-free election day aimed at creating provincial councils that more closely represent Iraq’s ethnic, sectarian and tribal balance. By nightfall, there were no confirmed deaths, and children played soccer on closed-off streets in a generally joyous atmosphere."
And just to prove it the BBC had footage of footy being played...
All of this would have been impossible without the Bush-Petraeus surge.
