[George W. Bush]

I was referring to his estimation of Iraq's chances at becoming a functional democracy comparable with the one in Turkey. He had helped guard the recent constitutional referendum. After that, he was on the Syrian border.

Democracy among Arabs? There's no there there. Look at Turkey, still a democracy under the armed supervision of the military after so many decades. My estimate is that we'll see Iran's mullahs overthrown and a western democracy in Iran long before any Arab state will have one.

[Coop]

I think Iran is ripe for a democratic form of government. Whether it occurs quickly, later, or not at all remains to be seen.

Next time you're talking with your Iraqi veteran buddies, ask them how they feel about the news media, politicians and others making critical comments (especially when they're often inaccurate or misleading) about their efforts.