AN EVENTFUL YEAR SOON GONE BY

2004 has truly been an eventful year, and perhaps one could talk of a year of elections. For the first time in their long history the Afghan people has elected a president for their country in a democratic fashion. And the Americans saw fit to reelect one of the people who made that Afghan election possible, for four more years in the White House.

And a lot of effort has also gone into trying to make possible another first democratic election, in troubled Iraq. I'm still relativly optimistic about this - certainly the securty situation is far from good, and we'll certainly see a wave of terror sweep over the country as election day comes closer. But folding for that terror would probably be the worst mistake of 2005 were it to happen.

The struggle for a fair election in the Ukraine has also been of great importance for the future. Hopefully the outcome of yesterday's election will be untampered with. Democracy getting a solid grip on Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republic will be important for millions of people's well being.

A more thorough look on the year's that gone will be posted closer to New Year's Eve. For now I'll just keep enjoying the Christmas food for a little while longer.

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