By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – U.S. Senator Kit Bond says Sunday's elections in Iraq show that democracy is gaining a foothold in the Mid-East.
Iraqi election authorities guess that 60% of eligible voters showed up at the polls, despite threats and attacks by insurgents.
But the Missouri Republican says it's still too early to tell when U.S. troops will be able to pull out of the country. "The simple answer to that is when they're ready to,' Bond said. "And that means when the Iraqi military, security, national guard, and perimeter security forces are up to the task."
It could take 10 days or more to count the ballots in Iraq. Voters chose candidates to fill a 275-member national assembly and 18 provincial legislatures.