Free Republic

Uniquely, democratic realism recognizes that in the present era of Islamic terror, security is only attainable through engagement, and that engagement will only have meaningful long term benefits if followed by committed democratic construction. In contrast, a policy of containment — one that focuses on either multilateral diplomatic discussions or a realist playing of one hostile interest against another — works to merely reinforce the status quo that breeds Jihadist killers. Only democracy and the rule of law can permanently alter the Middle East's volatile status quo, and extinguish the flames of violent radicalism in the Arab world. This is...

"Europe and America," said President George W. Bush in Ireland on Saturday, "are linked by the ties of family, friendship, and common struggle and common values." Bush seems to have quite a common struggle articulating what those common values are. In Prague in 2002, he told fellow NATO members, "We share common values — the common values of freedom, human rights, and democracy." In a post-communist world, these are vague, unobjectionable generalities. It's when you try to flesh them out that it all gets more complicated. Here's another way to look at it: America, almost in inverse proportion to its...

It's been said that "Fahrenheit 9/11" is the left's "The Passion of the Christ" — red meat for true believers. Except that it's George W. Bush who sacrifices others on his behalf. Except that Michael Moore's version would have the Sanhedrin in league with the Romans and the aqueduct construction brigades, and it would all be about water. The question now is what the Democratic establishment will do with this film: embrace it, ignore it or triangulate their way to a position that satisfies the party's reasonable majority while placating the angry loons who want to truss Bush up in...

Baghdad has not figured so prominently in the news since the days when the caliph Harun al-Rashid earned his place in the Arabian Nights and Sinbad the Sailor flew to safety on a giant roc. That was 1,200 years ago, and today’s city is no longer a place where Neo-Platonist philosophers lock horns with Islamic theologians and palace ladies eat off jewel-studded golden platters. But Baghdad in the age of the Abbasid caliphs was the greatest of all cities, the political and military heart of the Islamic Empire at its height. Between its founding in A.D.762 and its destruction in...

Insightful and entertaining column, as usual, on the Canadian debates. The most depressing conclusion to be drawn from the debates, and this federal election in general, is that most conservative or libertarian values are now considered by politicians to be so unpalatable to the Canadian public that they can't even be discussed. The widely held perception is apparently that it's impossible to be elected if you argue, or even state, any of the following: • that the health care system should be reformed to allow substantial involvement by private companies, where they can provide services more efficiently and cost-effectively (even...

Dublin, Ireland – When President Bush visits Ireland June 25-26, he will be confronted by a gaggle of leftist loonies coalescing under the banner, "When Bush comes to shove." They're against the war in Iraq, you see. They held no demonstrations to protest the torture and murder by Saddam Hussein over three decades; neither have they managed to get upset about human rights violations in China, the atrocities committed by various African dictators, or a host of other "evildoers," as Mr. Bush likes to call them. In fact, memory fails to recall any protests against military actions by the Irish...