ah Tom, once again you get taken in by the title and forget the substance. Yes, we can gloriously exhault the day the Iraqis took charge of themselves but wait.....The glorious public ceremony that would've been inclusive for the actual citizens of the country had to be done in secret. Why, you ask? Because the new Iraqi government is scared shitless. Of course it's for good reason. I doubt State Farm is sending agents by the boatload into Iraq to sell life insurance policies to the new heads of state.

There's a true difference in celebrating a new stable and respected government as to what Bremer has put into place at this time. Yeah, it's a natural evolution but compared to what will be eventually needed to move Iraq back into the league of nations, this amounts to an elementary school student council. In many ways though the student council is more effective. They don't have to be surrounded by thuggish bodyguards to enable them to keep breathing. I so hope that these brave (or insane) individuals will live long and prosper and rule with intelligence and grace but the odds are so stacked against them.