[stradivarius]

The so-called "neoconservative" strategy (which is actually old-fashioned Wilsonian foreign policy) that the Bush Administration has endorsed as the most gentle means to wage the War on Terror over the long-term, is to democratize Islamic thugocracies.

We hope that will lead to human rights and respect for the lives of Non-Muslims.

The danger is that even if democratic institutions are instituted, Islamists will get elected to office (just as the Nazis were freely elected into office in Germany) and the region will deteriorate and become more dangerous as they acquire weapons of mass destruction, and terrorist groups thrive with the sanction of the Islamic governments, as in the former Iraq and (former?) Pakistan and Libya, and present day Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, etc.

This article argues that we need to more ASSERTIVE in our democratization, because our apologetics legitimize the demands of Islamists in the name of "political correctness". In other words, we need to hold these regions to the same standards of respect for law and order that we hold ourselves and other democracies, not condescend to moral relativism for the sake of appeasement.

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

[Valin]

just as the Nazis were freely elected into office in Germany

Wrong wrong wrong!