[Lazamataz]

The left's fear (or is it hope?) is that Iraq will become a Sharia based country like Saudi Arabia or, more likely, Iran. Sadaam and his boys tortured women, but at least on paper, women had more legal rights than in other Muslim countries, and apparently did sometimes occupy higher social roles in business, science, and even the military. The rationale is that it's all relative, that Sadaam was bad, that what may come will be even worse for women.

That's a rational point, but that is an argument for our further occupation, until we can ensure a secular government.

So either Dean wants us to stay and ensure that form of government, or he is a hypocrite.

[Stirner]

"An argument for our further occupation, until we can ensure a secular government."

I think that what Arab countries need more than anything else is separation of church and state, but almost no Arabs are ready to accept that. If we stay until they are ready (and maybe we should) it will probably be a long time. That raises the question of whether we have the political will to do so. Sadly, we probably won't have that political will until we are struck again hard.