Japan and Germany were homogenous countries.
What we are trying to do in Iraq is a MULTI-ethnic, DEMOCRACY. To have a democracy is difficult--to have a multi-ethnic democracy in the context of the kind of history Iraq has faced is nearly insurmountable.
What Buckley is saying is that if we're not willing to engage in the kind of war that we deployed against Germany and Japan, then we should consider some alternatives. Because the way we're doing it now will not get us to win. Bottom-line.
Buckley is right, of course. Unfortunately, that makes him a heretic in some circles.
That is just one factor and not necessarily a controlling one. Singapore is a multi-ethnic democracy with five official languges. Indonesia is evolving into a democracy in a very multi-ethinc country and a history of past repression, i.e., the slaughter of the Chinese under Sukarno.
Japan had an imperial past. Germany had the failed Weimar Republic.
What we are trying to do in Iraq is a MULTI-ethnic, DEMOCRACY. To have a democracy is difficult--to have a multi-ethnic democracy in the context of the kind of history Iraq has faced is nearly insurmountable.
Why is it "nearly insurmountable?" We are a multi-ethinic democracy and had to overcome a civil war and slavery. You can look at the history of many democracies around the world and see similar examples of overcoming obstacles to achieve a democratic country. I don't share your pessimism.
What Buckley is saying is that if we're not willing to engage in the kind of war that we deployed against Germany and Japan, then we should consider some alternatives. Because the way we're doing it now will not get us to win. Bottom-line.
Buckley is entitled to his opinion. I think he is dead wrong.