Careful What You Wish For

The Boston Globe is doing a well-written and revealing series on the
difficulties of installing Western-style democracy among moderate Muslims,
and the contradictions in the US policy of supporting free elections.
Today was the final installment, titled "Western Style Democracy Prove
to be a Tough Sell.".

”At the end of the day, we don’t know what to do" about the
contradiction between Bush’s professed intention to spread democracy
and the US national
interest in having allies that provide air rights and logistical support
for US forces in the region, says a senior US official with extensive
experience in the region. ”If the [Bush] program succeeds, a Hosni
Mubarak can’t be leader of Egypt. He could not win a truly free election.
The
Saudi kingdom can’t be the Saudi kingdom. There might be a king, but
he would be like the king of England, a constitutional monarch."

President Bush’s proposal to combat Islamic extremism by promoting
democracy and development is positive, says Osama El Baz, Mubarak’s
chief adviser
and a leading moderate in the region. ”But it came across sounding
like American designs that would be rammed down the throats of decadent,
backward
Muslims — one size fits all. You cannot win the war against extremism
only, or even mainly, by force. The war should be fought in the minds
of people, through education, sermons, the press, literature."

from the Boston Globe