HELL FREEZES OVER!
And, in a related story, I find myself agreeing with Charles Krauthammer. Further signs of the Apocalypse as events warrant.
Labels: Iraq
posted by The Local Crank | 8:30 PM
The Local Crank
Musings & Sardonic Commentary on Politics, Religion, Culture & Native American Issues. Bringing you the finest in radioactive screeds since 2002! "The Local Crank" newspaper column is distributed by Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
About Me
- Name: The Local Crank
- Location: Cleburne, Texas, United States
Just a simple Cherokee trial lawyer, Barkman has been forcing his opinions on others in print since, for reasons that passeth understanding, he was an unsuccessful candidate for state representative in 2002. His philosophy: "If people had wanted me to be nice, they should've voted for me."
- Fighting On
- A Tale of Two Speakers
- Supporting the Troops?
- DOJ Begins Work on Massive Stone Wall Around Admin...
- HAPPY NEW YEAR!
- Saddam Hussein Dead
- Speaking Ill of the Dead
- Freedmen Win Ruling
- Stupid White Man of the Week: Virgin Trains
- Tort Reform Works!
Links
- Google News
- Remembering Tocqueville
- Media Matters for America
- Mr. Tourguide
- The Moderate Voice
- Blue Gal
- Grits for Breakfast
- The Defense Perspective
- Common Sense
- Ragebot (formerly Blognonymous)
- Crooks & Liars
- Somervell County Salon
- IAVA, formerly Operation:Truth
- Cleburne Times-Review
- Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
- The (Liberal) Girl Next Door
- Three Wise Men
- The Quaker Agitator
- Rabble Rouser's Forum
- Rachel's Tavern
- Tsalagi Think Tank
- John Cornsilk's Place
- Wampum
- Sean Nordwall for Cherokee Tribal Council
- Elohi Gadugi Journal
- The Native Blog
4 Comments:
All of which begs the question, if a) the Iraqi government can't even conduct a convincing trial for the greatest murderer alive, and b) subverts their own new constitution to conduct a sectarian-motivated execution, how can ANYONE argue that these people are capable of managing a pluralistic democracy under the rule of law? That's the real story Krauthammer should be writing about, if he were man enough to admit that his neo-conservative judgments about Iraq have all been shattered.
"how can ANYONE argue that these people are capable of managing a pluralistic democracy under the rule of law?"
That's a grotesque over-generalization. Arabs in general and Iraqis in particular are not genetically programmed to hate democracy and spit on the rule of law. Iraq is a failed state, a cobbled-together colonialist kludge of different groups with little in common; it has absolutely no experience with either democracy or the rule of law; and it's only been kept from flying apart until now by a succession of brutal repressive dictators, the latest of which just danced the Tiburn jig. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any country anywhere in the world with that kind of history that has managed to transform itself into a stable democracy without a bloody civil war (maybe South Africa). You and I have argued and disagreed over whether Arab/Muslim culture is antithetical to democracy, but I think it's going too far to say Iraqis aren't "capable" of governing themselves, as if they were some sort of Kipling-esque devil children crying out for the white man's gentle yoke.
Well, note that I said "pluralistic democracy." Some Moslem countries like Turkey do have the semblance of a democracy, though without the kind of open, tolerant, pluralistic respect for other cultures, religions, and the rule of law we claim to have (and do, at least to a much greater degree).
<< I think it's going too far to say Iraqis aren't "capable" of governing themselves, as if they were some sort of Kipling-esque devil children crying out for the white man's gentle yoke. >>
I DO believe they're incapable of governing themselves in the manner that our president and his administration envisioned, but I absolutely DON'T believe it's the "white man's gentle yoke" they need. In fact Iraq is in the mess it's in BECAUSE some foolish imbeciles in our government believed that. The only way Iraq can be sucessfully governed as it exists now, with its present borders, is by an authoritarian government, plain and simple. It's a sad, unpleasant truth, and I wish it weren't so. The best case scenario for Iraq would have been a GRADUAL transition from authoritarian rule to democracy, but it's too late for that now. The only two outcomes I see now are a failed nation-state, or a VERY long, bloody, brutal, and painful transition from sectarian conflict to democracy.
"The best case scenario for Iraq would have been a GRADUAL transition from authoritarian rule to democracy, but it's too late for that now. The only two outcomes I see now are a failed nation-state, or a VERY long, bloody, brutal, and painful transition from sectarian conflict to democracy."
Sadly, I must agree with your analysis. The end result of this trainwreck of a war will be precisely the opposite of what was intended.
Post a Comment
<< Home