Remember how long it took democracy to sort itself out here in the United States. The American Revolution ended in 1784, eight years after the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution was not finalized until 1787, and amidst much controversy, not ratified for almost another year. And then there was a bloody Civil War over 70 years after the ratification of the Constitution.

A good case can be made that until blacks were guaranteed the vote only about forty years ago, democracy was still not quite settled in America. So how long did that take?

It has been a little over a year since coalition forces first breached the borders of Iraq in March. A year.

Iraq has a lot of trouble ahead of it in the next few years, or even decades. But at least now they have a chance.