Democracy Is Spreading, Freedom House Finds

NY Sun ^ | December 20, 2005 | MEGHAN CLYNE

[Names Ash Housewares]

WASHINGTON - As the political battle intensifies over President Bush's efforts to spread democracy to Iraq and the Middle East, an influential human rights organization, Freedom House, has found that the past year brought significant improvements in personal and political rights across the region.

Reports of increased freedom emerged from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories, and observers attributed the results to the Bush administration's support of fledgling democracies worldwide.

[Names Ash Housewares]

"He's the driving force behind the freedom ... and he has the dictatorships running for cover," Mr. Ghadry said.

WOW!

Bush is changing the world for the better. Just like Reagan.

More evidence here,well worth a read... Democratic Peace Clock http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DP.CLOCK.HTM

[jwalsh07]

The democrates are deeply saddened. If only they could have convinced enough Americans to oppose Bush, they could have done for the Middle East what they did for South Vietnam and Cambodia. Another 30 years of tyranny and murder.

[keithtoo]

"St. George the Liberator"

[A. Pole]

"He's the driving force behind the freedom ... and he has the dictatorships running for cover," Mr. Ghadry said.

Letting people vote under the supervision of foreign troops is not much of a democracy. Neither is the praise from the local politicians who will praise anyone who has power.

[Chode]

they need to reset and wind that clock or something... it says 2000 on it and the last time the website was updated was in 2002!!! 8^)

[Peach]

Check this out tomorrow; very, very good news.

[Names Ash Housewares]

" they need to reset and wind that clock or something... it says 2000 on it and the last time the website was updated was in 2002!!! 8^)"

It does need some updating. But the hard evidence there and the trend of the world towards democracy is very powerful information against the left.

[A. Pole]

But the hard evidence there and the trend of the world towards democracy is very powerful information against the left.

It is always possible for the occupying power to organize the elections. The real test comes when the foreign troops leave.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

[Democracy Is Spreading, Freedom House Finds]

[Names Ash Housewares]

"Letting people vote under the supervision of foreign troops is not much of a democracy. Neither is the praise from the local politicians who will praise anyone who has power."

Step by step, steady progress. The article adresses what is going on in Iraq. They do not rate Iraq a democracy yet. The trend in the middle east was getting worse, only recently it is reversing. Thanks to Bush, our troops, the coalitions troops ,And thanks to the inherit desire of the human spirit to overcome and seek freedom. Is it perfect? No. Will there be setbacks? Sure. Is it going to all happen tomorrow. No. But it will happen one day.
The very real possiblity that humanity will reach an age of no more war in the next generation or two may be within our grasp. And it sure wont come about by a bunch of liberal nutters singing "give peace a chance". It takes courage, sacrifice, faith, unbreakable will, blood and treasure.

[Chode]

i agree absolutely... i guess my point is it would be even more impressive since the number of democracies raised by three, the clock would be even closer to noon.

[bad company]

yes -- DEmocracy is SPREADING!!! Maqtada Al Sadr has won in Iraq and we must be impressed by his 70% vote.11 million VOTED!! My problem is that when he was in Falluja ,in the Mosque, and surrounded by Marines before we had 51 killed and 411 wounded, we said that he would be "killed or captured" but then ,at the end , we let him and 1650 of his army go into the night. Now he has been duely elected in Iraq as the total leader and he joins Iran with his shiite statehood. What are we doing? Did our guys die for this?

So you would have liked to see more dead or what?

[bad company]

No!! I would have liked to see SADR dead but we LET HIM GO!!!!

I understand your feelings about fallujah, but the reality is that we didn't need to kill him to move the process foreward. Bringing him and his followers into the democratic process does. Flattening fallujah would have made a lot of us feel better, and would have sent a strong message, but it would have been counterproductive in the long run.

[A. Pole]

The very real possiblity that humanity will reach an age of no more war in the next generation or two may be within our grasp.

I am sorry, but as a Christian I see it a heresy. The everlasting Kingdom of God will not be reached by the humanity's efforts. It will come at the end of the world, after the Last Judgment and general resurrection.

The false kingdom of this world is the kingdom of Antichrist and it will last for a short time.

"He shall come again with glory, to judge the living and the dead: and His kingdom shall have no end."

[bad company]

Well, now in the long run you have Sharia and no WMD! We were better off before. What a damned fiasco.

Better off with Saddam? With open ended UN inspections? That was a fiasco. This war may not have gone well, but it's a hell of a lot better than doing nothing.

[Marine_Uncle]

Sadr was not in Fallujah. His home base is in Sadr city in the slums of western Baghdad. His goons where fighting pitch battles in 2004 in Najaf, Hillah and other south of the main triangle of death area.
But I would agree with the issue on us letting him go. Bremmer and company should never had taken the word of Sistani that Sistani would put the fat boy in his place which he did, and we did not hear a peep out of him afterward. But I think you are missing the point. We went in to remove the Butcher and his army. Then work at convincing the majority of Iraqi they would be better served in putting down their guns and going to the polling places. They have. They are making headway in participating in basic democratic process, they voted, three times to date in a relatively short period of time. The Sunni have taken up the political process now that they see the gig is up for Saddam. So to say our men and women died in vain is not viewed by many of us as being the case. The Iraqi need time. You don't undo all the wrong that has been there for so long, with a stroke of a pen. You do it by continue good will support and aid. As for who managed the elective process. Be carefull. The Iraqi under the UN did most of the work. We are only there as advisors.

[A. Pole]

Better off with Saddam?

There was a reason why the Reagan administration supported Saddam Hussein. Secularist Baghdad regime was a bulwark against radical Islamism and Iran. Now it is gone and the way to power for Islamists is open.