That was the point of my Japan analogy- that that's not the test of whether something is a puppet regime or not. In Japan, the US occupation remained for x amount of time to be sure that liberal constituionalism took hold and wasn't immediately replaced by some Mishima-esque coup. Eventually, though, the occupation ended, and Japan is in fact a constitutional state. Not libertopia, but way more liberal than the Shogunate or the Tojoite fascists.
Same idea in Iraq - you can't just say "here's a constitution, see ya" - the army needs to stick around for a bit to make sure it "takes," otherwise at the first sign of theocratic resurgence, everyone will sceam that it's the Americans' fault for _not_ having ensured that liberalism took hold.
by Aeon J. Skoble on July 6, 2004 at 4:11 PM