Then there was that pesky Revolutionary War.

18 months? Hell, Lindy. It took America longer than that. What say we be reasonable and give them the full 50 years? Sure, we had some pretty good controls set up in the west within 25 years of our war, and the nation as a whole had become pretty tame by the turn of the century. The outlaws were still out there pounding the banks, but then our “Revolutionary War” did not include the total obliteration of all we could find -- and for nearly 30 years.

That was Afghanistan.

Iraq has a central leadership being set up now -- and it's being accepted by the people ("the people", btw, comprise a little more than just the media’s photos of Baghdad). Iraq will be back on its feet in less than 18 months, and will be a viable force with OPEC, as a member, or a much hated competitor, within the next 3 years. Trouble for Iraq will continue, as would have to be expected of any bigoted nation split 20 different ways over 10 different beliefs, but then anything less would be perfect -- and there’s just no way Bush & Co could ever come out of all this and look perfect.

Dan