It might be just a tad too early to be self-congratulatory. Yes, elections were a smashing success in Iraq, but there are still over 100,000 Americans armed to the teeth over there propping up the results of that election. Far too many times before we have declared victory and disappeared, only to have the festering sore we left behind turn to gangrene.
I have never been in favor of George's Excellent Adventure in Iraq and still oppose the action on principle, but you can't argue with results. Now is the time to make sure we walk out the door upright, with well wishes behind us instead of backing out, wary of flying daggers.
It's definitely too early to be self-congratulatory, and nobody should kid themselves into thinking that the transformation is going to be complete overnight. However, it's not a matter of whether or not it's going to happen, it's just a matter of when.
Some time in about five to ten years from now, Bush's strident opponents and mockers are going to look every bit the bunch of fools as Reagan's did after the Wall came down and Eastern Europe was finally freed. The Arab tyrannies are just as doomed to eventually go on the ash heap of history.
Bump to everything you've said, though I went over to Bush's side when the UN said no to Iraq intervention. It was a double-edged sword for me. I don't like us using the army for nationbuilding, I don't like the idea that other countries might preemptively strike us, I don't like the big-government mentality that using the military for nationbuilding brings, but I'd prefer to have an interventionist U.S. government to a U.S. government that does what the UN said, and I'd prefer to have an interventionist U.S. government to seeing DC glowing in the dark.