WASHINGTON — Election day in Iraq brought a rare dose of favorable news for the Bush administration's efforts there but left unanswered whether others will follow.
At home, where support for the war has fallen to fewer than half of Americans, the image of Iraqis risking their lives to cast ballots is likely to increase public sympathy. Abroad, where the U.S.-led mission has been widely questioned, there were signs that allies would judge the election positively, possibly conferring the international legitimacy that has been a prime U.S. goal.
But U.S. officials stopped short of calling the vote a turning point, perhaps remembering that the jubilation that followed the capture of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein in December 2003 melted as the insurgency raged on. Exulting in the voter turnout Sunday, President Bush also said, "There's more distance to travel on the road to democracy."
Despite the exhilaration, the election may do little to win international support, assure a friendly government in Baghdad or prevent the spread of civil strife.
World leaders usually look to the United Nations to help them make sense of elections in troubled regions. The U.N. election team for Iraq is already making it clear that it considers the balloting fair, even though Iraq was too dangerous to permit the presence of international observers.
"They're voting for the day when they're going to take their destiny in hand," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said.
Such judgments could serve to soften public opposition in Europe and the Middle East to the U.S. presence in Iraq. U.S. officials have said they are eager to change European attitudes, and Bush plans to make it a top priority of his second term.
But even with international blessings, the balloting is unlikely to persuade balky European and Arab powers to do much more on the ground to support the U.S. effort, diplomats said. Many predicted that those who opposed the war would not soften their stance until Iraq had moved much further toward independence.
"Most people around the world really hoped, I suppose, for some good results in Iraq. We will receive very little credit for it initially," Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
