Here's the latest example of why forced democracy won't work: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-112204iraq_lat,0,3662200.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Are these Iraqi _citizens_ insane to not stop/slow down at these checkpoints even after warning shots and blaring horns? I suspect that most of these vehicles are in fact filled with terrorist insurgents who _all of a sudden_ become _innocent Iraqis_ after they are stopped before the checkpoint. Either that, _or_ I suspect that they are unarmed Sunnis, doing this specifically to win the battle of perception-way for the Sunnis to martyr themselves without picking up an AK74.
The Marines opened fire "to protect themselves and the integrity of the checkpoint," the statement said. More details of the shooting were not available, and the military's account could not be independently verified. Since when does the L.A. Times independently verify military accounts?