July also offered a lesson in timelines for democratic change. Sixteen years ago (Aug. 2, 1990), Saddam invaded Kuwait. Between 1990 and his overthrow in 2003, Saddam killed an estimated 250,000 people (mostly Kurds and Shia Arabs). Would anyone in 1990 or in March 2003 have predicted a freely elected Iraqi prime minister would appear before the U.S. Congress and thank America for giving his country the opportunity to create a democracy?
"Iraqis are your allies in the war on terror," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told a joint session of Congress.
That happened on July 26, 2006.
So while terrorists strike in India, India joins us in tighter alliance.
While North Koreans rattle sabres, Japan re-arms and tightens their alliance with us.
As terrorists strike in Iraq, Iraqis add forces to our coalition that fights with us against terror.
As Taliban and al Qaeda strike in Afghanistan, NATO ramps up and Afghan forces fight at our side.
And even in Hizbollah's fight, we've added Israelis who are thumping on terrorists so we don't have to--and id Damascus gets careless, Israel could collide with Syria--which will devastate Assad's regime when it is over.
And our roles in Afghanistan and Iraq will decline as our new allies take on more of the burden of fighting and defeating our common enemies in those countries. Which will leave our forces free to deal with other enemies.
So end the talk of our forces too stretched or America acting "unilaterally." In the end, all that talk really means is that France isn't helping us.
So how nuanced is the judgment that we are losing and isolated?
