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I don't think Iraq could be transformed overnight into a democracy. How can you take a country that doesn't have any kind of tradition of democracy, where its people have been brutalized and repressed for decades, and suddenly impose Jeffersonian ideals?

I am all in favour of democracy in Iraq.

Liberating Iraq from a legacy of violence and putting it on the path to peace and prosperity will take time.

Let's win the peace and democracy the good people of Iraq so richly deserve after decades of tyranny.

We should never take democracy for granted. Democracy can emerge and develop, but it can also decay.

Saddam's ouster will not necessarily lead to the same result, since Iraq lacks democratic traditions. Democracy doesn't just consist of holding elections.

Iraq is part of a legitimate American effort not to have democracy everywhere but to have democracy somewhere.

It is going to take a long time to switch Egypt into a democracy.

The United States is not for democracy in Iraq, it's for setting up a puppet government.

As the Iraqi people better understand that Saddam Hussein and his regime are history, it is my hope that they will get behind the coalition effort to help them create a democratic government and rebuild their country.