The American Spectator

Another Perspective

(Page 2 of 2)

On one side in Lebanon is Druze leader Jumblatt, who has blamed the CIA for 9/11 and vilified Israel. Last December he declared: "The killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq is legitimate and obligatory."

The alternative is Hezbollah, which represents much of the majority Shiite population. Hezbollah has mixed terrorism with public service, and its members criticize the U.S. as virulently as they do Israel.

Hamas did well in Palestinian elections. It has been rapidly gaining on Fatah in the polls and might win upcoming legislative elections.

Jihadists prospered in Saudi Arabia's recent municipal balloting. The radical Muslim Brotherhood could win a free vote in Egypt.

No one can predict what would happen if Washington's ally Pakistan suddenly implemented the President's democratic rhetoric. Nor would any American want to ask the public in any Arab state what it thinks of Washington's occupation of Iraq or support for Israel.

The U.S. should not oppose democracy in response. Doing so put America on the wrong side of history in such diverse countries as Iran and Nicaragua. Indeed, the mullahs likely would not be in power in Tehran today but for Washington's backing for the Shah. However, Americans inside and outside of government must pay as much attention to the development of a vibrant and tolerant civil society as to the holding of elections.

GIVE PRESIDENT BUSH credit -- he has been willing to advance what originally seemed like a Quixotic crusade, pushing democracy in the Mideast. But, warns former top Pentagon aide Dov Zakheim, democracy "isn't a short-term enterprise or one that can be won by force of arms."

Our real goal should be liberty. For without liberty, democracy risks becoming just another tool of tyranny, on behalf of a majority rather than a minority.

How to foster liberal, tolerant peoples and societies is far more complicated than detailing election procedures or providing campaign training. Encouraging today's delicate democratic sprouts to flourish and eventually replace the barren tyranny that continues to dominate the Mideast poses an enormous challenge to all of us.

p> Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and a member of the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy. He also is a former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan. br> /p>

topics:
Foreign Policy, Islam, Constitution, Law, Military, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Israel, Pakistan, North Korea