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To: EyeGuy
It remains to be seen whether the unrest in the Middle East will lead to greater levels of democracy or not. My wager would be - not.

The revolutions in France and Russia led to Bonapartism and Bolshevism, respectively. In times of unrest, those who are better armed, more organized and more ruthless tend to prevail. In Egypt the Islamists are organized and the comparatively secular democrats are not. It may well come down to a struggle between the army and the Brotherhood. Although the army would probably win such a showdown, democracy would not be a winner in either case. In Jordan, those calling for a constitutional monarchy are Islamists, not secular democrats. In Bahrain the fight is between Shiites and Sunnis, not Jeffersonians and monarchists, with significant meddling by Iran.

Let's wait for the results before we start praising W's nation building and advocacy for democracy in the Middle East.

35 posted on 03/04/2011 10:01:04 AM PST by p. henry
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To: p. henry

I didn’t say a word about nation-building. I specifically, and intentionally referred to hammering al Qaeda.

With the pathology that is Islam as the dominant, and deeply-entrenched cultural and societal force in these countries, nation-building would be, at the very best, a difficult uphill battle. I was never a fan of using our military as a civilizing police force.


36 posted on 03/04/2011 10:19:40 AM PST by EyeGuy (Gimme Shelter)
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