Afghanistan’s loya jirga has agreed on a new democratic constitution. In Iraq, the transfer of power from coalition officials to the Iraqis themselves is formally underway.
Will these democratic transitions go off with out a hitch? Hell no — but that’s an unfair baseline. Both Iraq and Afghanistan have experienced waves of war, repression, civil strife and sanctions for two decades. As Victor Davis Hanson points out, what’s been achieved in the past two years is quite remarkable:
In 24 months the United States defeated two of the most hideous regimes in modern memory. For all the sorrow involved, it has already made progress in the unthinkable: bringing consensual government into the heart of Middle Eastern autocracy, where there has been no political heritage other than tyranny, theocracy, and dictatorship.
(posted by Daniel Drezner).
The Dish 