And it is true. US forces mopped the floor with Saddam Hussein's vaunted Republican Guard and ultimately put down the insurgency that followed -- at least to a level where Iraq won't turn into Somalia overnight..They did bring democracy to Iraq, fragile and deadlocked as this system seems to be in a country bereft of liberal traditions. And for America, this chapter is indeed over.
For Iraqis on the eve of this pullout, victory is bittersweet.