From: Ramez Naam (mez@apexnano.com)
Date: Wed Feb 19 2003 - 11:39:34 MST
From: Dehede011@aol.com [mailto:Dehede011@aol.com]
mez@apexnano.com writes:
> Here's the problem. If we're not committed to
> establishing democracy in Iraq, we may be content to install
> (or allow to come to power) a "friendly dictator".
>
> Mez,
> Personally I don't see how you avoid that. I don't
> know of a single democracy in that part of the world
> excepting possibly Turkey. As you are from Eygpt perhaps
> you know of one -- I don't.
>
> Not only that but when I talk to my Moslem friends in
> my neighborhood they don't seem to have a big demand for a
> democracy. So tell me how we do this?
Ron, I think we've hit an impasse here. You seem to believe that
muslims just aren't cut out for democracy. I disagree.
Democracy has worked in Turkey. It's slowly taking hold in Indonesia.
It works in Lebanon (and worked better before Israel invaded). It
worked in Pakistan until the present dictator overthrew it.
Democratic reforms were starting to take hold in Iran until Bush
strengthened the hardliners with the "axis of evil" speech. Qatar and
the United Arab Emirates are both taking steps towards democracy.
People in the middle east want a say in how they're ruled. People in
the middle east want the wealth and opportunity that come in
capitalist democracy. I say this based on the hundreds of people I
know and have talked to at length in the middle east.
In any case, we seem to have both made up our minds on this issue, so
maybe we can move on to something else.
cheers,
mez
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