This is the problem in the so-called Arab world. While the people instinctively long for freedom, they have no idea what it is. I've tried over the years to explain the concepts behind our representative republic to Muslims in the Arab world. It's invariably like trying to explain it to five year-old children. The closest they seem to come to understanding is the vague idea that they get to pick their dictator. This will change over the years. Indeed it IS changing as exiles who thrived in the West go home to help bring the opportunites they enjoyed in the West to their own people. However, the process is VERY slow.
"I believe that if Democracy is given a proper chance, the people will never turn away from it thereafter. Freedom is something that people are usually not likely to willingly give away, once they've experienced it."
Hear, hear!
I am encouraged, however, that the pace will quicken. I believe, as our President does, that freedom is something that all people yearn for, even if it is the most difficult societal condition to create. When we see satellite dishes sprouting on rooftops, Fox News in people's homes and "Rice /Coulter 2008" bumper stickers on people's cars, then I will know that they're doing just fine :-)
(Hey, I can't put a "Rice / Coulter 2008" sticker on the stoatmobile because I know that if I park it anywhere for more than 30 seconds here in the People's Republic of Seattle, the tires will be slashed, all the windows will be broken and it will be set on fire by the 'open minded' Leftist cretins that have overrun this place. If we can get Iraq to the point that I described above, maybe it will be a good place to move to, if not vacation in? :-) Naww....I couldn't move there permanently...I love America too much :-)