Mr Douglass A final reply to your final post   I do not doubt the existence of the devastation gore and carnage that Iraqis experienced It is real and needs to be put in to both current and historical context   Coalition planners went to great lengths to spare Iraqi infrastructure during the invasion precisely because they intended to immediately support the development of a new Iraq from the wreckage of Saddams tyranny    While war involves the management of violence with destructive consequences the assault on Saddams forces was the most precise in the history of warfare  Today the rules of engagement that vulnerably restrict the tactics of coalition soldiers are intended to protect the lives of innocents Giving many threatening persons the benefit of the doubt Those that violate are prosecuted   Insurgent tactics couldnt be more reverse the bombing of marketplaces killing of faithful in mosques and assaulting law enforcement recruits in line for training Sabotage of infrastructure by Sunni insurgents and alQaeda operatives has stymied the pace of reconstruction  not wanton damage by coalition forces   Saddams wars cost well over halfmillion lives in the Middle East and his internal assaults on nonSunnis resulted in hundreds of thousands more dead Many like yourself who yearn for Saddam underestimate the degree to which he destroyed Iraqi society    Today the percentage of Iraqi youth enrolled in school greatly exceeds enrollment during Saddams government and Iraqi oil revenues are now funding projects of public benefit instead of building Saddams palaces and fattening his arsenal   Do you detest the new Iraq so much that the only alternative futures you prefer are either Iraq under the boot of dictatorship or Iraq terrorized by Sunni overlords and alQaeda militants   While the main stream media and you cultivate the perception of chaos across Iraq today the growing prosperity of Iraqis is ignored The inflation rate of  in  has fallen to  in  The Iraqi unemployment rate of  in  has been reduced to  in  Iraqs economic output in  was  billion more than double the output of Saddams last year in power That type of performance doesnt happen in a quagmire   Among Iraqis an ABC poll from December found broad optimism They must not be watching American television news channels   It seems that you share the opinion that the people in the Islamic world are unfit to chose their own leaders That they require dictators to keep them in line The soft bigotry of low expectations    Democracy wasnt imposed on Iraq Elected Iraqi delegates drafted a constitution that was approved by a popular vote While some Iraqis may wax nostalgic about life under the Baath party the electorate has clearly supported the new republic    This is a unprecedented achievement in a region where most suffer under tyrants and terrorists Kavanagh  June   EST