We’ve seen this movie before. A long time ruler is deposed. The initial outlook is optimistic. Then, they have their voices expressed in an election. The outcome is rarely what you think it will be. Worse yet, the fair and free election happens once. I would be more inclined to be optimistic if it weren’t for the data shown in the Zogby poll of Egyptian views on the role of sharia law and islam in their government.
“I would be more inclined to be optimistic if it weren’t for the data shown in the Zogby poll of Egyptian views on the role of sharia law and islam in their government.”
How does one go about getting a valid public opinion poll about politics in a dictatorship? I have serious doubts about the validity of polls taken anywhere in the Middle East...
Palestinians "democratically" elected Hamas in Jan, 2006.
Germany "democratically" elected Hitler in 1933.
The U.S. "democratically" elected Obama in 2008.
This proves your point even more. When a nation as a whole is ignorant, mislead, or even evil, free elections can put terrorists, genocidal dictators, and statists in control at the expense of individual safety and liberty. So question: should we be more concerned about free elections in other nations or the threat to liberty and safety in our own nation? My answer: as we oversaw the forming of democracy in Iraq, we must be sure that "free elections" don't result in a false freedom. Democratic elections that result in the enforcement of sharia law is not true freedom. Democracy and sharia are not compatible. This is why we cannot support "free elections" in Egypt when the filling of the void by the Muslim Brotherhood is a foregone conclusion. The Muslim Brotherhood is a threat to true freedom and safety in our own nation. What will our soldiers say when they are shot down with the anti-aircraft missiles Egypt purchased earlier from the U.S.? "It was a free election?"