Libya is becoming friendly to the West. It's great, certainly, but for Libyans, Gaddafi remains in power and don't expect democracy in a country that becomes pro-west, because we can't force a friendly country to change.
Iran is turning to Egypt, Iran accepts UN inspectors and becomes more friendly to either pro-western contries or accepts our conditions. We can't force them to become a democracy either, precisely because they're leaning towards us.
Syria turns to Turkey, still defies Bush. But Turkey is a pro-western democracy, allied to Israel. Assad can defy Bush about the WMD's when he says : we will agree to reduce our WMD's (or welcome UN inspectors) IF Israel does the same and he'd have a point.
Democracy trickling down? My foot!!
Established powers can shift alliances without changing the nature of their regime.
Iraq.....Becoming a democracy? With a Shi-ite government, friendly to Iran, yes!
I wonder if Bush thought about it before he started the war.
This is why so many countries opposed the war in the first place.
This is why his own father didn't want to topple Saddam.
Wars have totally umpredictable consequences; did Bush know that?
500 Americans dead in Iraq...Was it worth it?
Was the war worth it?
Saddam in prison; does it reduce the threat, the feeling of nationalism in Iraq? A trial can reveal lots of embarrassing things and not just for the axis of weasel, for the US also (did I say Union Carbide?).
I doubt very much it was all worth it.
Iraq will likely become an Islamist state. It's as if Bush forgot who's responsible for 9/11.

Raoul