[George W. Bush]

To the contrary, Bush-administration officials — notwithstanding goo-gobs of evidence that terrorists have used the freedoms of Western democracies, including our own, the better to plot mass murder — have conned themselves into believing that democracy, not decisive force, is the key to conquering this enemy.

The delusion of Wilsonian do-gooding. Bush should never have listened to this kind of thinking.

Democratizing such cultures — in anything we would recognize as “democracy” — is the work of generations. It is a cultural phenomenon. It is not accomplished by elections and facile constitution writing … especially, constitutions that shun Madisonian democracy for the State Department’s preferred establishment of Islam and its adhesive sharia law as the state religion. Elections, in fact, play to the strengths of Islamic terrorists.

Exactly so. We imposed democracy on Japan forcefully after gelding the emperor. We made it clear to Germany there would be no return to fascism or a Kaiser. But in Iraq, we ignored the problems Turkey has faced for decades and flippantly enshrined the enemy of liberty and human rights, Islam, in their constitution which actually reduced their freedoms and civil rights with the result that women and Christians are victimized by the Islamists on a legal basis.

Great find, Spiff.

[steve8714]

One more problem- we seem to try to impose the Euro parliamentary system everywhere. If it's so good, why don't we use it?
I think we all know the answer.
Why not split it all up and take a chunk of Iran for Kurdistan, and arrange an alliance between Turkey and the Kurds? Oh, and blast everyone else.