The following is proof that the bar must be very low to be considered a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute:

So the problems that affect Americans and Turks are, I think, largely behind us. The problems in Iraq are ahead of us, but we’re doing better than people think. And a year from now, I’ll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush. There is no doubt that, with the exception of a very small number of people close to a vicious regime, the people of Iraq have been liberated and they understand that they’ve been liberated. And it is getting easier every day for Iraqis to express that sense of liberation. [emphasis mine]

— Richard Perle
Luncheon Keynote
American Enterprise Institute conference
22 September 2003

I guess they still have a week to go. Mobilize the naming committees!

Oh, and for those playing at home, the situation in Iraq still sucks.