<I believe there is no compelling reason to believe that Iraqis can't prove equally as capable of adopting democracy.>
I agree, 100%.
The Pew polls, in addition to showing the near-universal hatred of American Imperialism in the Islamic World, also shows a deep, widespread yearning for liberal democracy.
Here's the most likely road the Iraqis will take, to freedom and democracy (using the dictionary, not the Orwellian NeoCon, definitions of those words):
1. the Iraqi patriots kill enough Americans, that the Americans go home.
2. the Islamists, who are the best organized political force in the country, take over. The Kurds declare independence. Hopefully, the Turks leave them alone.
3. the rest of Iraq establishes a militant, nationalist, anti-American Islamic government, and buys some nukes from Iran or N. Korea, to deter the Great Satan.
4. After a while, the Iraqis, like the Iranians, get tired of taking orders from the clerics
5. another revolution (which may or may not be peaceful) overthrows the clerics
6. the U.S. and the new democratic Iraq, establish friendly relations, finally agreeing to strictly respect each other's sovereignty and live in peace.
I don't think there are any short-cuts on this "road map." |
