April 6, 2004
INFECT ME WITH YOUR LOVE:
The Democratic Contagion (Pejman Yousefzadeh, 04/06/2004, Tech Central Station)
Libya's potential democratization, along with its startling and strong endorsement of the Bush Administration's plan to spread democracy in the Middle East is yet another indication of one of the unsung benefits of the war in Iraq -- the ability to give the people of the region a tangible vision of freedom. Up until now, such a vision has been a pipe dream in most Middle Eastern countries. But with the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, more and more, the question for other Middle Eastern populations is why they should continue to settle for the unceasing oppression that has been their lot in life up until now.Surely, one of the significant portions of the struggle against terrorism involves rolling back and eliminating the authoritarianism and totalitarianism that is so essential to brainwashing a population into accepting terrorism as a viable and mainstream political strategy. Contrary to the arguments made by Richard Clarke and others, the ramifications of the war in Iraq bode well for the war on terrorism in that the war appears to have served as a catalyst for democratization in the Middle East. Both American national security and civil society in the Middle East will benefit from that trend. And one cannot help but wonder how Clarke has missed -- or ignored -- the trend in formulating his critique.
One of the most interesting ways in which George W. Bush has revolutionized our politics is that conservatives are now at the forefront of the root causes argument, pushing the radical notion that liberalizing the Islamic world is the most important task before us, while it is now the Democrats who are isolationist and incrementalist. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 6, 2004 3:33 PM
Oh please, switch the parties in the White House and the Democrats and Republicans (or at lest the ones enrolled in the chattering classes) would switch sides in this argument. (see Kosovo)
Posted by: Brandon at April 6, 2004 3:38 PMBrandon, I'm not so sure. The difference is that the U.S. is directly targeted in the present conflict. The conservative/libertarian objections to fighting in the former Yugoslavia were that there were no national interests at stake, while Democrats and (most of) the left said we had to intervene for humanitarian reasons. In Iraq and the rest of the war on terror, most of the right points out that it is in our national interest to fight because we are directly involved in any case, and also makes the humanitarian arguments. The left has gotten itself into the weird position that the U.S. can morally fight only if our interests are not involved, because if they are our actions are tainted by self-interest.
Posted by: PapayaSF at April 6, 2004 3:54 PMPapayaSF
You may be correct, but in November if Bush clearly wins a Victory with the public having full knowledge of 600 or more military deaths that will clarify the thinking of the left/liberal set to the effect of ending the "vietnam syndrome".
A syndrome that has been highly effective politically for approaching 30 years. Or am I being optimistic? Nah forget it your right they hate America.
Posted by: h-man at April 6, 2004 4:34 PM
The Democrats are not isolationist, they support interventions as long as they serve to advance their primary foregin policy goal, which is the ceding of American power to transnational institutions and regulation. Changing the Islamic world is incidental to that objective, which is why the Democrats would support it if the UN were involved, but oppose it because it is US led (and why Kerry's primary foreign policy concerns are not terrorism, but the US's relationships with the UN and the EU).
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