The president gave a speech last week on the situation in Iraq. He said the United States, and anyone willing to join us, is going into Iraq to remove the regime of Saddam Hussein and replace it with a democratic government. This will be a good thing, the president said, because planting a democracy in Iraq will set an example other Middle East nations may follow and the infectious outbreak of democracy in the region will eventually lead to the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state that will live in peace with its neighbor, Israel.
Groundskeepers at the White House must be thrilled, because a load of fertilizer that big has to be good for the Rose Garden.
I wholeheartedly support President Bush’s contention that the Middle East could stand a good dose of democracy, but what do you think our friends in Kuwait think about that? Kuwait is famous not only for its oil, but also for oppressing women and the prevalence of human slavery. That’s right, slavery. When the Kuwaiti sheiks fled to London during the Iraqi occupation of 1990, many of their slaves took the opportunity to seek sanctuary in England. It was a big problem. What do you think the 5,000 members of the Saudi royal family think of an outburst of democracy in the Middle East? How about our good friend King Abdullah of Jordan?
If you’re looking for examples of democracy, you can find one in the Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq. Since the imposition of the northern no-fly zone in 1991, Iraqi Kurds have established an autonomous government, which may be the most democratic in the region right now. The salvation of the Kurds, so long oppressed by Saddam, has been a wide plank in the Bush war platform. Once the U.S. military rolls in and takes over, perhaps we can work with the Kurds to spread their style of democracy throughout Iraq.
OK, that’s not going to happen. Instead of inviting the Kurds and other groups oppressed by Saddam to form a government, a U.S. administrator, something like a Roman proconsul, will be imposed on Iraq. In the Kurdish north, as soon as the bullets start to fly, the Turkish army will cross the border – not to fight Saddam, but to keep a lid on the 100,000 Kurdish militia troops in the area.
So the U.S. will invade Iraq to bring the concept of democracy to the Middle East, but the first thing we’ll do is dismantle one of the few functioning democracies in the region.
Speaking of Turkey and democracy, it was a democratic vote by the Turkish parliament that prevented the U.S. military from using Turkish bases to launch a second thrust into Iraq. Now 40,000 troops will have to be shifted to the southern front, perhaps delaying the invasion two weeks. The vote in the Turkish parliament was close, but Turkish public opinion is not – between 80 and 90 percent oppose the war.
Another voting body Mr. Bush has to worry about is the U.N. Security Council. The White House has indicated it will seek a second resolution, one authorizing an invasion, within the week. Unless, of course, Mr. Bush does not think a majority nine of the 15 members of the council will vote to support the invasion, in which case the U.S. will invade Iraq without a second resolution. That’s the democratic spirit – if we can’t win by the rules, throw the rules away. We’re America, the only superpower. Might makes right.
Which is not to say the Bush administration does not have full confidence in the democratic procedures of the United Nations. Why just this week, it was revealed that the National Security Agency has been eavesdropping on the diplomatic missions from the swing votes on the Security Council.
Yes indeed, led by Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld – and of course, God – the United States is well on it way to planting the sweet seed of democracy into another region of the globe swarming with masses of heathen brown people.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Do As I Say, Not As I Do
The president gave a speech last week on the situation in Iraq. He said the United States, and anyone willing to join us, is going into Iraq to remove the regime of Saddam Hussein and replace it with a democratic government. This will be a good thing, the president said, because planting a democracy in Iraq will set an example other Middle East nations may follow and the infectious outbreak of democracy in the region will eventually lead to the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state that will live in peace with its neighbor, Israel.
Groundskeepers at the White House must be thrilled, because a load of fertilizer that big has to be good for the Rose Garden.
I wholeheartedly support President Bush’s contention that the Middle East could stand a good dose of democracy, but what do you think our friends in Kuwait think about that? Kuwait is famous not only for its oil, but also for oppressing women and the prevalence of human slavery. That’s right, slavery. When the Kuwaiti sheiks fled to London during the Iraqi occupation of 1990, many of their slaves took the opportunity to seek sanctuary in England. It was a big problem. What do you think the 5,000 members of the Saudi royal family think of an outburst of democracy in the Middle East? How about our good friend King Abdullah of Jordan?
If you’re looking for examples of democracy, you can find one in the Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq. Since the imposition of the northern no-fly zone in 1991, Iraqi Kurds have established an autonomous government, which may be the most democratic in the region right now. The salvation of the Kurds, so long oppressed by Saddam, has been a wide plank in the Bush war platform. Once the U.S. military rolls in and takes over, perhaps we can work with the Kurds to spread their style of democracy throughout Iraq.
OK, that’s not going to happen. Instead of inviting the Kurds and other groups oppressed by Saddam to form a government, a U.S. administrator, something like a Roman proconsul, will be imposed on Iraq. In the Kurdish north, as soon as the bullets start to fly, the Turkish army will cross the border – not to fight Saddam, but to keep a lid on the 100,000 Kurdish militia troops in the area.
So the U.S. will invade Iraq to bring the concept of democracy to the Middle East, but the first thing we’ll do is dismantle one of the few functioning democracies in the region.
Speaking of Turkey and democracy, it was a democratic vote by the Turkish parliament that prevented the U.S. military from using Turkish bases to launch a second thrust into Iraq. Now 40,000 troops will have to be shifted to the southern front, perhaps delaying the invasion two weeks. The vote in the Turkish parliament was close, but Turkish public opinion is not – between 80 and 90 percent oppose the war.
Another voting body Mr. Bush has to worry about is the U.N. Security Council. The White House has indicated it will seek a second resolution, one authorizing an invasion, within the week. Unless, of course, Mr. Bush does not think a majority nine of the 15 members of the council will vote to support the invasion, in which case the U.S. will invade Iraq without a second resolution. That’s the democratic spirit – if we can’t win by the rules, throw the rules away. We’re America, the only superpower. Might makes right.
Which is not to say the Bush administration does not have full confidence in the democratic procedures of the United Nations. Why just this week, it was revealed that the National Security Agency has been eavesdropping on the diplomatic missions from the swing votes on the Security Council.
Yes indeed, led by Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld – and of course, God – the United States is well on it way to planting the sweet seed of democracy into another region of the globe swarming with masses of heathen brown people.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.