What he said

Odysseus:

This is one of the most audacious programs in history. Imagine if, in 2001, standing over the ashes of the World Trade Center, George W. Bush had announced that within four years, we would have deposed Saddam, stood up a new Iraqi army, held three elections and created a stable, permanent and democratic government there, as well as doing the same in Afghanistan, he'd have been dragged off in a straightjacket. But in fact, that's what he did. We held the first election within two years of deposing Saddam, on schedule, despite the worst efforts of men who consider democracy an affront to Allah. The Iraqis had a year to draft their constitution and made the deadline. The naysayers demanded that we postpone the referendum, predicting failure. It passed, on time. Remember that the next time someone tells you that there's no timeline.

One of Iraq's politicians announced that today, Iraq will be reborn. Every soldier, marine, airman and sailor who had a hand in that should take pride at having been in the delivery room.