Colonial England never really wanted to let go of its colonies. All the "white man's burden" stuff was simply an excuse to keep the empire together in order to exploit it.
Bush and his supporters are not claiming, as did Kipling, that the Iraqis are not ready for democracy. Quite the contrary, Bush is the one pushing for free elections, constitutions, etc.
It's his detractors on the left who have adopted Kipling's quaint notion of natives who can't be trusted with democracy.
