The American Spectator

p> PREMATURE DEMOCRACY br> Re: P. David Hornik’s The Not-So-New Middle East : /p> p>The “guarded pessimism” of P. David Hornik is a dose of healthy realism which hopefully will bring down the temperature of the premature proclaimers of Middle East democracy. Beyond the reservations Hornik expresses there are also dangers far greater lurking in the area. One is that the new Iraqi Shiite democracy will become at some later point part of the Iranian-controlled Shiite superstate including Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. The second is that the push to democracy is given priority while little is being done in regard to terror-state Iran’s increasing effort at nuclear weapons, and its increasing negative influence upon the world’s energy situation. Promoting democracy in the area is an admirable goal, but the first priority of the U.S. and its allies should be confronting the major dangers in the area that will not be voted away. br> — Shalom Freedman br> Jerusalem, Israel /p> p> DEATH WATCH br> Re: Hunter Baker’s Schiavo and the Slippery Slope