I sincerely doubt that I am the first "media" source to ask this question, but nevertheless, here goes nutin':

Why is it that there has been one election in Iraq and everyone is acting like everything will be just peachy-king from here on out? "Elections" by themselves do not lead to freedom, democracy, or prosperity without the underlying legal and administrative institutions essential to good government. Most importantly, the benefits of democratic governance cannot be realized without mechanisms built in to preserve minority rights in the face of majority rule. Without such protections, a "tyranny of the majority" could easily arise, taking the form of an extremist government and/or a hard-line theocracy (see Algeria). This would defeat our only remaining purpose for removing Saddam and his cadre from power. So the upcoming crafting of the Iraqi Constitution will be extremely important, as will the reformation of the existing Iraqi legal code and the functioning of the Iraqi judiciary.

I've heard it said that the most important election for Iraq isn't the one that just happened, it will be the next one (which I take it mean either the upcoming set of super-elections -- in which the representatives elected in January will elect a government -- or the next set of elections several years from now, which will serve as a signpost for the progress that Iraq (hopefully) makes over the next few years).

An election might be a necessary first step, but ultimately it's a relatively small accomplishment compared to the challenges ahead. Transition to a democracy by itself does not create civil rights or eliminate corruption -- as evidence we need only to look at the experience of the former Soviet Union.