Who would guess that this post came out of the Bay Area
Presidents (Democrat and Republican) tend to have LONG-TERM peace and stability in mind with their actions, rather than the "hey the economy is bad right now" or "Iraq is in turmoil right now" mentality of many US citizens (mostly liberals).
Democracy in Iraq is the first step to LONG-TERM middle east peace, thus stable oil prices, thus economic growth. It has already spread into Lebanon, and I have the feeling that Iran will be democratic in the next 5 years, hopefully without our help.
Long term peace (at the expense of short-term turmoil) in the middle east is GWB's and Blair's goal, and it's clear by the re-election of GWB and most likely Blair that there are still a majority of reasonable people in our countires.
FDR wanted to enter WWII long before US citizens came around (Pearl Harbor). Perhaps if we did, millions would have been saved from gas chambers.
War and economic instability are terrible, but patience will see this pay off.