Completely speculative question: What if he were elected by the people of Saudi Arabia to be their King or Prime Minister or President?
We'd have as much of an obligation to destroy him and his government as we would invading Austia because supposedly the majority of them wanted to be annexed into Nazi Germany.
What if Hitler had fled into Switzerland or Argentina, been elected president and looked to be rallying support to rebuilding his Nazi power base and launching another war?? We'd have to conquer and defeat them.
Would we let Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dawmer off the hook merely because they were elected governor of some state? No.. They'd have to be arrested.
I'm not saying it wouldn't provoke controversy in the muslim world, but politically and internationally, it would "sell" a lot easier that mere accusations and alleged assertions that the Saudis and the Wahhabists were really working to destroy us at the very same time they claim to be allies.
Democratic elections, just as in Palestine, make the people bear responsibility for the type of government they have elected. It may be that we find ourselves one day fighting with a Islamo-Fascist regime that is democratically elected.
But something tells me that it will be far harder to find journalists who will be sympathetic, or at least critical towards US policy, in such a circumstance.
But you DO ask a good question.. Do we prop up and support a corrupt and illegimate regime, or do we place the onus upon the people to decide the future, and national fate, of their country...
Thus, maybe having democratic elections in the muslim world will clarify the actual issue of who's our enemy and who's our friend. And that will relieve us of much of the pressure we currently face to reduce civilian casualties. After all, they ELECTED to become our enemies by elected a sworn enemy of the US.
I think, sometimes I'd rather blatantly know who my enemies are, rather than having to guess who's stabbing me in the back while pretending to be a friend and ally to my face.
Wouldn't you?
Hawk |
