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The Oxymoron of Imposed Democracy

IF A COUNTRY lacks the preconditions for democracy, can this infrastructure be forcefully supplied by an external source? Few would argue in favor of conquering countries simply to make them democratic, but democratic great powers–particularly Great Britain and the United States–have sometimes conquered countries for other reasons and then have struggled to remake them as friendly democracies before withdrawing. Those who are nostalgic for empire view this as a policy with a future. They point to the establishment of courts, a free press and rational public administration in British colonies, without which democracy would probably be scarcer in the developing world today, since most of the postcolonial states that have remained almost continuously democratic–such as India and some West Indian island states–are former British possessions. Still, other former British colonies have failed to achieve democratic stability: Pakistan and Nigeria oscillate between chaotic elected regimes and military dictatorships; Sri Lanka has held elections that stoked the fires of ethnic conflict; and Malaysia has averted ethnic conflict only by limiting democracy. The list contains even more parlous cases, from Burma to Zimbabwe

“You’ve got several hundred years of antagonism between Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites. If you think anybody can predict success at this stage you are wrong.�

That, really, is the problem in a nutshell.

Multiply that by the loss of power by the Sunnis and their fear of reprisals by a Shia government….

Multiply that by the Shia desires for satisfaction for the decades of oppression under the Sunni and secular rule of Saddam…

And, to add insult, the US went and stirred that ants nest (Argentinian fire ants??) with their foot.

The solution?

Perhaps it lies in finding out how the three factions in Iraq couyld best meet their respective ambitions and nationhood instead of assuming that AMerica knows best.

Perhaps the answer lies in accepting that the final outcome might not favour American interests in the way that was hoped.

Instead, perhaps, the effort should be to ensure that Kurd, Shia and Sunni interests are all met.

That might need acceptance of three nations in place of one?

Meanwhile, all I hear from democrats is how Iraq is a lost cause and the country is plunging into chaos and the entire population is armed against the U.S. I got to hand it to those suicide-bombing kids; their target is us and boy have they been efficient and effective.

Noodles, you certainly aren’t listening to this Democrat. And frankly, your rhetoric is kind of tiring.

John, dolt? Really? Come on…enough with the name calling.

Are you completely lost on this subject? The millitary puts insurgent attacks at about 75 per day in Iraq. This is some hard working gang of 15 teenage miscreants that we have over in Iraq. Get real man, how many casualties (civillian as well as military) will it take for this administration and the Right to take this insurgency seriously? Granted these are not all the flashy suicide type, but they are real attempts on the lives of others. Do you realize how many attacks that is per year? 27,000 roughly. Can you even fathom that? This isn’t the work of teenage boys with firecrackers, you dolt.

I read an article in “the economist” last month that suggested there may be less than 2,000 insurgents left in iraq actively fighting; Also I heard on NPR about this urban legend named Juba, a sniper who has claimed to have personally assasinated over 10% of all the american casualties in Iraq. I have no idea if these are true but honestly it wouldn’t suprise me if they were.

I wonder how many road-side bombs around Bagdad or Ramadi are being set by the same gang of 15 kids who just haven’t been caught. It doesn’t take a nation of experts to craft those munitions either. Unused mortar shells are ubiquitous in iraq and any dumb teenager with internet access can figure out how to build a shape charge.

Meanwhile, all I hear from democrats is how Iraq is a lost cause and the country is plunging into chaos and the entire population is armed against the U.S. I got to hand it to those suicide-bombing kids; their target is us and boy have they been efficient and effective.

And to Blue’s point, Iraq was out of Bush’s control the moment he okayed the flawed strategy to secure the peace. It’s been over from the beginning unfortunately…