Such encounters made clear to me that America was not just at war with Saddam, but with Saddamism: an entrenched Arab mind-set, born of years of colonialism and humiliation, that insists that upholding Arab dignity and nationalism by defying the West is more important than freedom, democracy and modernization.

Thomas Friedman lays down the path we must take to break down the attitudes that have made the Middle East a global flash-point for so long. If we don't actually follow through with the promise of liberation and democracy - no excuses - we're going to find ourselves in a much worse place than we were before 9/11 and will live up to the worst caricatures painted by the ANSWER'S, NION's and France's of the world. All the folks on the right who are already declaring victory had better take this seriously to heart.