"Stable" - good enough for Kerry

Is this man insane? Kerry says "I have always said from day one that the goal here . . . is a stable Iraq, not whether or not that's a full democracy." Has it occurred to this man that he might actually become President in January 2005? Even were Kerry right to give up on Iraqi democracy, by saying so, he makes clear to people like Sadr that, depending on what happens here in November, they can prevent Iraqi democracy by causing sufficient instability. How would Kerry deal the next Sadr? Would he install him as a friendly dictator? Given what he's said already, Kerry would be a very weak bargaining position in such a scenario.

All of this adds up to another reason to stick to the June 30th sovereignty transfer date, and to hold elections as soon as possible: there simply is no guarantee that American support for Iraqi democrats will last much longer.