Yep. Those folks respect power, and they respect (and fear) those who seem to be winning. They are, however, not big fans of democracy.
Bush II read them completely wrong. And Obama, for his own reasons, is following along a similar path.
I was laughing when the Iraqis were posing with their purple fingers after voting, while GWB (and a lot of people here in FR) were crowing and celebrating as if were some great victory for "democracy."
Last I checked, it's still legal to rape little boys and murder one's wife, daughter or sister.