Ramesh, Dionne’s column borders on the insane. It’s as if he thinks Iraq is just shy of becoming another Norway or Sweden, provided Iraqis have the good sense to ignore the “ideological claptrap we mouth to the world.”

Here’s a simple illustration. The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom said of Iraq before Saddam fell:

“The government controls all financial transactions… the government controls almost all prices, and for items like food, rationing is the norm… property is not protected in Iraq… the state owns all significant industries… “

This is a (recently liberated) Stalinist society that has no absolutely no comprehension of what a functioning market system might entail. And yet Dionne says let’s not give “the Iraqis moralistic lectures about the free market” because we have Social Security and state parks. What planet is he on?