Great point... I strongly prefer democracy in the Middle East. Maybe it can happen and it is definitely worth an effort. I just wouldn't put my money on it. Yet this willingness to try something is a definite difference between President Bush and the Democratic leadership who we all know to be void of any ideas other than appeasement.
It is very much worth the effort.
I think when looking at Democracy in the MidEast, you have to kind of divide things up. Some areas will be receptive to the hope America is willing to give; others will not. Pakistanis clearly wants nothing to do with American influence. Palestinians are choosing "the dark side." And I think in areas like that, fascist Islam ideology rules the peoples' thinking.
But in other areas like Afghanistan (and I believe most of Iraq), and hopefully Iran and Lebanon, the people of the country are exhausted from years of war, fighting, bloodshed, and terrorism. The people want nothing to do with radical Islam and they've seen what brutality and tyranny can do. And I think in places like that, people are far more receptive to what America has to offer.