Look, we've given the population of Afghanistan and Iraq a chance. Their chance before was nil, especially in Iraq where Saddam's psychotic sons were being groomed for a dynasty of horror that could have gone on for fifty years, even assuming his grandsons didn't take over.

All we can really offer other nations is a chance. When the Soviet Union fell, a lot of countries that had been under Soviet control got the same thing: a chance at freedom. Some certainly did better than others, and even now, years later, the verdict still isn't in for a lot of them.

God knows nobody can guarantee freedom. Sometimes it gets a bit iffy even in America.

But now fifty million people in two countries have a chance they didn't have three years ago. That's not an insignificant accomplishment.