Cheering in the streets means nothing. It's a survival thing - you cheer for the side that won in order to avoid the knock on the door in the middle of the night.

Democracy begining to operate? Well, let's see an election before we count those chickens.

And if it does happen, it will be a very good thing. But no excuse for the war. War is justifiable only by neccessity - not by the expectation of a good result. Yes, I do expect some good results from the war. In particular, I think there is a good chance (by no means a certainty - the same people that picked him are picking hte next) that the next govornment will be better for Iraq than the last. But it was still wrong. It was an unprovoked attack, and that is the kind of thing people like Sadddam do, not civilized democratic republics.

Only the easiest part has been won. Our soldiers did what they were sent to do. They are excellent, we all know that, I never doubted they would succeed in doing their part. Now it's our politician's turn. I am not so confident. I have a hell of a lot more confidence in the USMC - or the Army - or the Navy - or the Air Force - than I do in the State Department - or George W. Bush.

Last time we intervened in Iraqi politics, we helped install You Know Who as an interim leader who promised democracy.

Now if we don't, we are likely to get another Ayatohla.

I expect this Bush to do what the last did: transform a solid military victory into defeat. The main difference is that the last one had a valid non-imaginary justification for for the military operation.