Yeah, don’t count out Iraq yet but they need to do it for themselves and it may take a long time. I firmly believe the US must offer support (including military support), but we need to be realistic and accept that their government may not look like ours or even agree with us much of the time after all is said and done. And as for countries in the middle east being skeptical of democracy, they do have some legitimate concerns. Ever wonder how the Shah of Iran came to power? He deposed democratically-elected president Mossadegh in a US/British-engineered coup in 1953. Although Mossadegh was friendly to the US and was considered a valuable ally in our battle against the communist threat, he made the mistake of nationalizing Iran’s oil industry, depriving US and British companies of their “rights” to Iranian oil fields. Whoopsie! Good-bye, open democratic government, hello repressive monarchy! The Shah allowed US and British oil companies back into the country and many Iranians were none-too-pleased at Western meddling in their affairs. Decades of brutal oppression by the Shah’s SAVAK police allowed the Islamic fundamentalist crazies to win lots of converts, eventually giving their movement enough momentum to otherthrow the Shah in 1979. Now we’ve got an Iran that is far more unfriendly and dangerous than the one we interfered with back in 1953. And don’t take my word for it, you can read the history yourself in this excellent wikipedia entry about the Shah.