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In the Mideast, Democratic Momentum
Washington Post ^ | December 19, 2005 | Jackson Diehl

Posted on 12/19/2005 3:06:06 AM PST by liberallarry

Though Iraq has now held the freest election in Arab history, conventional wisdom in Washington and the Middle East still dismisses the Bush administration's hope that its military intervention will catalyze democratic change around the region...

That's one of the perverse effects of the war: Amid all the noise of suicide bombings, talk of a quagmire for U.S. troops and a sectarian conflict that could lead to Iraq's disintegration, most people haven't noticed that in the rest of the Arab Middle East, the political momentum of the past year has been . . . distinctly democratic....

any honest examination of the Arab world shows that the transformation Bush called for on the eve of the war in 2003 got closer in 2005.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: ageofliberty; democracy; iraq; iraqielection; mideast
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This view is being heard on many Left-leaning MSM news stations.
1 posted on 12/19/2005 3:06:07 AM PST by liberallarry
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To: liberallarry

I find it extremely racist for the Democrats to keep saying the Iraquis are not worth fighting for.


2 posted on 12/19/2005 3:26:17 AM PST by abclily
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To: liberallarry
...conventional wisdom in Washington and the Middle East...

That would be the comPost and Al Jazeera. No others need be consulted.
3 posted on 12/19/2005 3:31:47 AM PST by ComputerGuy (An expert is a person who avoids the small errors while sweeping on to the grand fallacy)
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To: liberallarry
This view is being heard on many left-leaning MSM news stations

You mean... EVERYWHERE... except FOXNews.

4 posted on 12/19/2005 3:39:14 AM PST by johnny7 (“Check out the big brain on Brett!”)
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To: liberallarry

It seems to me that there's a cycle around the elections where the MSM reports start sounding more favorable followed by a period of intense pessimism.


5 posted on 12/19/2005 3:39:45 AM PST by bkepley
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To: liberallarry

"A recent survey by Brookings Institution scholar Shibley Telhami found that 58 percent of Arabs outside Iraq said the war had produced less rather than more democracy."

SO, What you're saying is saddams goverment was democratically elected and everyone had a vote free from fear of retaliation?
HAHAHAHAH! That is so FUNNY!


6 posted on 12/19/2005 3:40:07 AM PST by truemiester (If the U.S. should fail, a veil of darkness will come over the Earth for a thousand years)
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To: abclily
racist

Political correctniks have turned this word into the unltimate insult and excuse for censorship.

Despite all the abuse and baloney, there are such things as group identity, group consciousness, culture and history...and shared genetics. It's as legitimate to notice and comment on these things as it is to comment on individual characteristics.

7 posted on 12/19/2005 3:40:32 AM PST by liberallarry
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To: johnny7
except FOXNews.

Fox News hasn't been optimistic? Now that's surprising.

8 posted on 12/19/2005 3:42:39 AM PST by liberallarry
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To: abclily

They actually say that America is not worth fighting for...or at least that was what Mother Sheehan was told to say.


9 posted on 12/19/2005 3:51:34 AM PST by chasio649
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To: liberallarry; johnny7

I think Johnny meant that the description "left-leaning" included all networks except FNC.


10 posted on 12/19/2005 4:16:53 AM PST by Coop (FR = a lotta talk, but little action)
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To: liberallarry; Southack; PhiKapMom
most people haven't noticed that in the rest of the Arab Middle East, the political momentum of the past year has been... distinctly democratic...

...because we, your media, have ensured that positive stories are ignored or buried while any and all negative stories are emphasized beyond belief.

~~~

And yet it's still not working. Just imagine what this war on terror would be like if the media were on our side.
11 posted on 12/19/2005 4:19:43 AM PST by Coop (FR = a lotta talk, but little action)
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To: liberallarry
Political correctniks have turned this word into the unltimate insult and excuse for censorship.

You are absolutely correct, but you have stopped short of the acknowledging the reality that most of us here are all too well aware. This reality is the hypocrisy that underlies PC, and the fact that the only accusations of racism that are taken seriously are those directed at white conservatives. In the PC world that most liberals live in, no black can ever be racist. No Democrat can ever be racist. No woman can ever be sexist.

If you see it differently, then please explain why Senator Byrd has never paid any political price whatsoever for uttering the forbidden "N" word twice (the second time for emphasis) on national TV, or for his involvement with the KKK.

And then explain why Trent Lott was crucified for a joke with (debatably) racist overtones told at a private party.

Your reaction to the other poster was typical of the liberal PC mindset. You think it's fine to question the fitness of middle eastern people (Arab or otherwise) to govern themselves based on their "culture and history" and "shared genetics". Imagine the outcry if a white conservative suggested that "shared genetics" had any bearing on the ability of a black African people to govern themselves!

12 posted on 12/19/2005 4:42:02 AM PST by Fresh Wind (Democrats are guilty of whatever they scream the loudest about.)
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To: Fresh Wind; JeanS; Dog; dighton; Cap Huff; jmc1969; Valin; DevSix; Mo1; Ernest_at_the_Beach; ...
Article's summary sentence:
Yet any honest examination of the Arab world shows that the transformation Bush called for on the eve of the war in 2003 got closer in 2005.

Indeed.

13 posted on 12/19/2005 4:51:35 AM PST by Coop (FR = a lotta talk, but little action)
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To: Fresh Wind
If you see it differently

I don't.

14 posted on 12/19/2005 4:55:40 AM PST by liberallarry
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To: liberallarry
With the world focused on Iraq's troubles, naysayers who insist that there has been no positive change, or even that the situation has grown worse, mostly aren't contradicted. Yet any honest examination of the Arab world shows that the transformation Bush called for on the eve of the war in 2003 got closer in 2005.

This is actually a rather stunning admission by the WaPo. They have vehemently opposed everything that Bush has done and now they have to (subtly) admit that the things he has done via the WOT are working.

And, what I love most about this article is how carefully they have to tiptoe to not give Bush and credit.
15 posted on 12/19/2005 4:57:36 AM PST by DustyMoment (FloriDUH - proud inventors of pregnant/hanging chads and judicide!!)
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To: liberallarry

I agree with you on your definition of racist.

However, when I used the word in reference to the Democrats' attitude about Iraquis not being worth fighting for, I meant it as the 'ultimate insult.'


16 posted on 12/19/2005 5:06:04 AM PST by abclily
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To: DustyMoment
I had the same impression. The comPost is actually saying that the middle east has definitely turned in a positive direction.

Just shocked that this article got into that fishwrap of a paper.

17 posted on 12/19/2005 5:08:52 AM PST by OldFriend (The Dems enABLEd DANGER and 3,000 Americans died.)
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To: abclily

For too many democrats, it's not that Iraq wasn't worth fighting for, it was that this war helped Israel and THEY are not worth fighting for.


18 posted on 12/19/2005 5:09:48 AM PST by OldFriend (The Dems enABLEd DANGER and 3,000 Americans died.)
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To: liberallarry
"any honest examination of the Arab world shows that the transformation Bush called for on the eve of the war in 2003 got closer in 2005."

Gee... what a coincidence...

19 posted on 12/19/2005 5:26:39 AM PST by Philistone (Turning lead into gold...)
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To: liberallarry

I guess there's hope for you!


20 posted on 12/19/2005 5:27:23 AM PST by Fresh Wind (Democrats are guilty of whatever they scream the loudest about.)
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