"The invasion and occupation of Iraq, his administration predicted, would come at little financial cost and would materially improve the lives of Iraqis. Americans would be greeted as liberators, Bush officials predicted, and the toppling of Saddam Hussein would spread peace and democracy throughout the Middle East."

That's how this aggression was "sold" to the American public. We would discover WMDs by the ton, Iraqi oil would pay for the reconstruction, and Americans would be welcomed as the greatest thing since date palms. Cheney was especially vociferous regarding this, as was Rice.

And that hasn't happened, and doesn't seem to be happening. People are continuing to die, Americans are not regarded as "liberators", and there seems to be no end in sight to the killing. I don't know, but I'm assuming Americans aren't just walking the streets.

The polls were very heartening. I hope they are representative. It's hard to see how they may be given the lack of security people keep complaining about.

The next thing to blossom with be the revolt of the Kurds, and the Sunni-Shiite rivalries. It will take a very strong presence, such as Saddam had, to avoid civil war. But that will resemble, once again, quagmire.

I don't know. I wish you were right.

Arf