Mudhafer al-Husaini, an Iraqi NYT employee:
People were happy with the initial results and it was very clear to everyone that the people have learned from the bitter experiences of the past few years and the previous elections of 2005. They all believe that the religious parties brought nothing to this country but sectarianism, which cost them the lives of hundreds of thousands of their relatives and friends. The secular parties became an alternative for most of the Iraqis.
