In the meantime, where does that leave Iraq? I would guess that leaves it headed for civil war, and the end result if the South wins, will be some sort of theocracy, with the Kurd population ultimately decimated. We, the U.S., will have to withdraw having done more harm than good, to put it mildly.
Your larger question as to whether we should think about imposing democracy at all, is moot, because that is what we are thinking about doing, and that aim as formulated by the Bush administration is doomed to failure. -joan ^^^^^^^ CB: We give the Bush administration way too much credit if we say its purposes with respect to Iraq are to "impose" democracy or do anything to improve the lives of Iraqis. The Bush administration has no such beneficent motive. That's a lying cover story.' It is true that imposing democracy is doomed to fail, but that is not what the Bush admin is trying to do. The Bush administration is trying to rule Iraq from Washington, which is the opposite of democracy. Imperialism is the opposite of democracy.