Sacrificial Anode

That's fancy talk for the zinc you attach to the bottom of a boat. The zinc, being more attractive to electricity, absorbs the ionic currents that would otherwise eat your propellor.

And that's what Iraq has been for the past six years- the sacrificial anode that spared the rest of the world from the insanity of George Bush. Without Iraq, the American Death Star would have shown on a half-dozen other countries.

When you remove the zinc, it looks the same. That cannot be said for Iraq. The destruction will always remain, as a monument of sorts to the diseased brains of Bush and Cheney. But the Iraqis defended freedom and dignity around the globe when nobody else could do it. They've earned their place in history.