Mr. Unpopularity did a lot tonight to become Mr. Popularity once again.

President Bush delivered an excellent prime-time speech from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. His overall message: we're getting out of Iraq and turning the country over to its citizens. He used the phrase "full sovereignty" several times to describe post/6-30 Iraq. He gave Iraqis the message, "We have no interest in occupation." He told the insurgents that we will aggressively combat any force seeking to promote anarchy and undermine Iraqi democracy. And he promised elections and the formation of a new constitution within two years.

"All along," Bush remarked, "some have questioned whether the Iraqis are ready for self-government." I am such a skeptic, but I hope the President's optimism proves right.

Sounds like a contradiction, "Full sovereignty," yet they only will get a constitution and elections within a couple of years, presumably when the U.S. says they can have the?