I'd like to get back to the issues John Hernandez raises. What he describes through his sarcasm is not just Iraq, but many so-called friends of the USA as well -- Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Egypt. In general most effective way the West has in dealing with such repressive regimes is through strengthening our own democratic institutions, living up to our own democratic values, and teaching by example. Yes, sometimes economic sanctions and military actions are necessary, but only in the short run. Meanwhile, what is most important for us to do is not succumb to the temptation to destroy our own democracy (fragile and imperfect it is) in the name of preserving it. That means, at very least, turning Hamdi and Padilla back over to US civil authorities for criminal prosecution, if a case can be made aginst them. Otherwise, it means letting them letting them go, as distasteful as that might seem. Allowing the US government to hold a person in military custody indefinitely with neither due process nor POW status means that the terrorists and all the other enemies of democracy have won a enormous victory. We should be ashamed of ourselves if we let that happen.