Democracy in Iraq

I'm just amazed at the ease with which the Iraqis have been able to make compromises on huge issues that many, including me, thought might be intractable. For example, the status of Kirkuk, where the Kurds got most of what they wanted. Kirkuk will for the most part be a Kurdish city. The cabinet is going to be quite diverse, with a Sunni in control of defense, a Shia in control of the oil ministry, and a Kurd heading the foreign ministry. The media has been reporting the negotiations for the makeup of the Iraqi government as if it's going unexpectedly slow. But then the media has been constantly reporting almost everything in Iraq in a negative light.

Think about it: how likely would our own Democrats and Republicans be to agree so quickly on such momentous issues? They can't even seem to agree on judicial confirmations, much less if say, all of a sudden, Kansas demanded that Kansas City was a Kansan city and that Missouri had no right to any of it.

This is truly incredible in such a potentially fractious nation that has never known democracy. Add in the news that the Iraqi insurgents are looking for a way to end their guerilla war, and it looks like we and the Iraqi people are going to be victorius in this vital battle in the War on Terror.