To All Iraqis: Welcome to Planet Earth!

Congratulations to all Iraqis.

As I see it, before the War Against Saddam Iraqis lived in Hell. Afterwards, Iraqis moved up to Purgatory. With this election, Iraqis have risen yet again:

Welcome to Planet Earth.

Dictatorship has been compared to a boat: luxury for some, drudgery for the majority, steady, safe and "comfortable" in its dynamics, but certain to sink when it hits a rock or fills with water in a storm.

Democracy is a raft: turbulent waters make steering difficult to control, one gets wet with every wave, but all aboard are sure to stay afloat. Yet every movement somebody makes is sure to affect the raft's course.

Did you really think that us Americans have more to teach than you Iraqis have been teaching us about the importance of democracy, "the worst system of government, but for all the others"?

G-d be with us all.