Posted on 03/30/2006 7:51:30 AM PST by cougar_mccxxi
From a strictly military perspective, Iraq represents a stunning victory for America. But as capably as American forces prevailed over Saddam Hussein on the field of battle, the post-war effort has been frustrating, to say the least.
Efforts to elevate Iraq's new government to a modern version of the democratic process, despite seeming so close to the final goal, are regularly discouraged and stalled.
The reasons for this quandary are simple, yet fundamentally profound. In short, democracy, or any of its derivatives (as is our own representative republic), cannot create or uplift a culture. Rather, they will only ever succeed at reflecting it.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
Forget Iraq.
We got some serious cultural collapse here.
I agree with Kissinger...rarely.
Partition the place. leave some peacekeepers
stay good with the Kurds
do the best we can with the Shia and Sunnis
rope off Iraq
but we have some serious crap going on at home we better quit ignoring.
and the possibility of a Chavez on our southern border....not that Fox is worth a damn anyhow
He does put quotes around "democracy" so it looks like he's got the same idea that democracy hasn't ever been wholly realized:
To the degree that "democracy" has succeeded in western civilization, it has done so as a result of an inherent regard for the rights of all, including the weak, which itself is rooted in the Christian belief system undergirding that civilization. Among those cultures that do not inherently recognize such truths, "democracy," if it is to succeed at all, must be imposed by an outside force.
He looks to be saying that if it's so hard for us to get the idea right, is it really going to work among people who have so much less practice? I don't know if he's right or not, but CNS isn't MSM. It's a conservative service founded by Brent Bozell.
Not sure of the point of your response though it is a heated one.
Thanks for posting.
Having said that, it is just a concern, not a reason not to have elections.
Wardaddy is exactly right. While we are puzzling over the nuances of Iraqi interpersonal relationships, the whole of South America is going the way of Chavez, and we ourselves have been invaded by 11 million illegal aliens.
Even when DEMOCRACY is less than functional, it beats ALL OTHER SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT KNOWN TO MAN! At least we don't see the "Killing Fields" of Cambodia, or the MASS GRAVES of IRAQI'S, filled with hundreds of thousands of bodies.
LIBERTY is a GOD given right! CNS author writes like a LSM pundit.
LLS
I guess my point was my last sentence. It was not meant to reflect on you. I'm sorry if you thought that's what I intended.
Glad to post as it let me vent against the LSM... that is ALWAYS a good thing! :-)
LLS
I agree, I supported the effort to nation build Iraq, but accept for the Kurds Iraq appears to be a lost cause, dido Afganistan. Meanwhile we are being invaded here in the usa. Time to take case of business at home and forget about all this nation building over seas.
Right on.
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