"There is never going to be a western-style democracy in Iraq . . ." posted by Richard Seymour

Jeremy reads more broadly than I do, and hence comes up with better goodies . This time he has unearthed a cracking quote from Sir Jeremy Greenstock, (the man whom George Galloway describes as the cold, supercilious Grecian to John Negroponte's brute Roman:

Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the UK's former envoy to Iraq, told a meeting in London on Thursday: "There is never going to be a western-style democracy in Iraq . . . the worst-case scenario is an implosion of Iraqi security and society down to levels lower than the unified state . . . perhaps back to the medieval picture of local baronies."

Well, look. Since we already know that the CIA was of a mind that "the towel heads can't hack it", I can't say I am surprised. My guess is that expectations are being systematically lowered from the profoundly high-flying rhetoric that took us into war. Autocratic rule will continue, and their new "strongman" will rub so many people the wrong way that Iraq will fragment centrifugally. Or, Iraqis will unite and resist the occupiers who intend to do this to them. There is nothing in between.