Score one for democracy - not ours, but Turkey's, whose Parliament failed to win the absolute majority it needed to allow American troops to begin their deployment on Turkish soil in preparation for an invasion of Iraq by land via Kurdistan (aka, The Country Which Must Not Be Named). Already I can see diners across the United States renaming their "Turkey Sandwich with French Fries" to "Liberty Bird with Freedom Fries". And let's not even think of how we're going to overhaul our Thanksgiving dinners, come next November...

Good for the Turks. Ironically, this move on their part might ingratiate them more with the European Union than any American sponsorship ever could have. Already Donald Rumsfeld and his fellow fascists are grumbling about the "untidiness" of democracy. Yes, it is a lot easier to strongarm nations into doing your will when they're run by absolute despots, and doing our bidding uber alles is how Saddam Hussein came to power in Iraq in the first place, after all. No, Mr. Rumsfeld, the real untidiness occurs when these persons we train, put into place, nurture, and arm (for who among our current enemies was not once our friend, except the mad dictator of North Korea) finally decide to turn on us, which they inevitably do, and we're put into the unsavory position of having to deal with the monsters we created to do our dirty work all over the world.

But there are many ways to deal with such monsters. War benefits no one in the end, especially not the millions of Iraqis whose lives will be needlessly endangered so that one man may be removed from power. The people of the world are right to question this course of action. Despite the protestations of George Bush and his administration, the United Nations has never been more relevant than it is now, as it attempts to prevent the world's most powerful nation from replacing the rule of law with the law of the jungle for decades if not centuries to come (and who knows what will be the consequences, if the world community should fail). Across the planet, democratically-elected governments are feeling unprecedented pressure from their citizens to resist the American push towards an illegal preemptive war. Some heads of state have already taken their stand against such an action; others who oppose their own people on this issue in order to appease the United States will find that hell hath no fury like a spurned voter.

But democracy is the thing we said we're in this for, isn't it? Be careful what you wish for, Mr. President.