Yes, you could argue with the finer points...But I think this blog is pretty insightful on this subject.

The main point I took is that the Iraqi problem with establishing a democracy is one of perception among the Iraqi populace: Do the Iraqi's themselves believe that their country can become stable enough to allow a democracy to become rooted and then flourish?

Democracy cannot flourish if they perceive a return to the Bathist killing fields as a real possibility for them and their families.

I will submit that Democracy could not exist anywhere, even in the USA, if most of the population was to terrified to take part in the process: Democracy can only exist if the populace feels safe enough to take part in the democracy.

This in turn causes a dilemma for all democracies: How does the democracy protect itself without resorting at some point to tyranny itself to stop those who given the chance would destroy it impose their own form of tyranny? In that sense, the Iraqi's are fighting the same battle that is waged daily in the Supreme Courts of the more established democracies such as the USA...The Iraqis are fighting the battle in a way that is much less abstract, and as a result, is much more tenuous as the outcome for the Iraqis must seem very uncertain.

Scott Evil