re: 1) freedom and democracy is as much of an imposition on people as breathing air. It's not an imposition at all, but rather a necessity for optimizing happiness within a society.
That's a nice sentiment, and I'm sure it is heartfelt. I would love to agree. But in the real world, in the ME, you don't have the sectarian seeds that will grow a democracy. The seeds are relgious fundamentalism, and we are fertilizing them with anti-American, anti-Christian fuel. Frankly, it was best to leave a sleeping dog lie, and hope to lead by example.
re: 2) We are not forcing them to adopt and American style democracy. They are writing their own constitution, which lays out how they want to be governed. In point of fact, it includes alot of references to Iraq being an Islamic Democracy, which is DECIDEDLY un-American.
These guys are hand picked by us. They serve at our pleasure. They will do or say anything we want. The Iraqi's know that, you must know that. Bush is pulling the strings, these guys have ZERO power without the US... without the US they are dead meat within 24 hours.
THE most basic principle of democracy is self determination. I don't think you can impose democracy, I think it has to be home grown. We can set the example. But then, I've got my old time conservative side that doesn't believe in nation building. What do I know when confronted by the neo's? Maybe you are right. Maybe Iraq will turn into post WW2 japan or germany, or Disney Land.
John |
