Three Years

Today, on the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, there are protests in Europe, calling for immediate withdrawal (presumably so the thugs can take over). In Baghdad, however, there is growing confidence that democracy and the rule of law are taking hold. This week at Saddam's trial for genocide and war crimes, Saddam kept insisting that he is still president of Iraq, and the judge kept reminding the "Butcher of Baghdad" that he is now a defendant in a criminal case.

Iraq's interim president, Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar, told CNN on Thursday that the trial will be fair. "All Iraqis can listen and hear and understand that he will be tried according to the law," al-Yawar said. "There will be no political aspect to his trial."

Al-Yawar said the trial "means that a very dark era has been gone forever."

Protest that.