Autonomy

In a nutshell:

"If the Iraqis were to go to the polls, dip their fingers in the purple ink, and actually choose whether or not to allow the Americans to remain, they would have to reconcile their loathing for the occupation with their dread of what might happen without it."

"We didn't ask the Iraqis if we could invade their country; we didn't ask them if we could occupy it; and now we're not asking them if we should leave."

--from The New Yorker (10/22/07) comment section, "Ask the Iraqis," by Lawrence Wright