[secretagent]

They haven’t refused to democratize because the Federalist Papers are not yet out in Arabic. They decline because their leaders have freely chosen to decline. They see us as the mortal enemy of the life they believe Allah commands. Their demurral is wrong, but it is principled, not ignorant. And we insult them by suggesting otherwise.

Bush talks about the "soft racism" of those who say that some people are not ready for democracy.

But perhaps he thus insults many in the Middle East, perhaps a huge majority, when he implies that they don't want what they already have.

[George W. Bush]

Bush talks about the "soft racism" of those who say that some people are not ready for democracy.

He's using the PC stick to tar opponents with racism. But the truth is the Muslims know perfectly well what democracy is. They thoroughly reject it and will kill anyone to prevent its spread in their domains. Not just in Iraq, but all the Muslim leaders and elites fear any spread of democracy. Some of the worst ones are our good friends, the Saudis (who just happen to have a nuclear weapons program of their own that we never hear about).