Who lost Iraq?

Early voting results are coming in from Iraq. All that propaganda about "a beacon of freedom in a part of the world that is desperate for freedom and liberty" which "will serve as such an optimistic and hopeful example for reformers from Tehran to Damascus," (today's press conference) looks to be a whole bunch of crap, as predicted by just about everybody not in the Bush Administration.

In Iraqi election results, Allawi(the US and British hope/hype) "had won only meager support in crucial provinces where it had expected to do well, including Baghdad."

"The front-runner in Sunni Arab regions was a religious coalition whose leaders have advocated resistance to both the American military and the Shiite-led government and has insisted that President Bush set a timetable for withdrawal."

The big winner? "Early voting results announced by Iraqi electoral officials today indicated that religious groups, particularly the main Shiite coalition, had taken a commanding lead, with nearly two-thirds of the ballots having been counted."

And as for Rumsfeld's other puppet, "Another prominent secular candidate, Ahmad Chalabi, the former Pentagon favorite, won less than half a percent of the vote in Baghdad, possibly denying him a seat in the new Parliament."

So, we invaded Iraq to give them the democracy of Iran. Extremists won on both the Sunni and Shia sides. Is this what victory tastes like?

UPDATE: Genius of Insanity adds an element from the LATimes version which emphasizes the Shia parties, who look to be winning so big, are tied to Iran.