Bush's rhetoric about democracy came to sound as bitterly ironic as his pumped-up appearance on an aircraft carrier a few months earlier, in front of an enormous banner that declared MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. And yet it has to be said and it should be understood—now, almost seven hellish years later—that something that looks mighty like democracy is emerging in Iraq. And while it may not be a beacon of inspiration to the region, it most certainly is a watershed event that could come to represent a whole new era in the history of the massively undemocratic Middle East.
Iraq's democracy could represent a whole new era? Funny, Newsweek doesn't look Neoconish.
And yes, it was hellish for the Iraqi people who endured Baathists, Sunni nationalists, Shia death squads, and al Qaeda all doing their best to slaughter civilians, as we attempted to defend Iraq from this evil campaign of terror and build an Iraqi government that could stand on its own. But given the hellish nature of Saddam's reign, could anyone say that the last seven years would not have been hellish anyway under Saddam or one of his demon spawn sociopathic sons? Would you really like to revive those idiot claims that Saddam really wasn't so bad?
At least now, Iraqis have a better existence and the hope of an even better future. And their neighbors might see the example of Iraq and be inspired to build that whole new era in the region.
Mission accomplished, indeed. But we have more missions to accomplish.
