by Greg Miller
. . . The report, which has been distributed to a small group of top
government officials but not publicly disclosed, says that daunting
economic and social problems are likely to undermine basic stability
in the region for years, let alone prospects for democratic reform.
Even if some version of democracy took root -- an event the report
casts as unlikely -- anti-American sentiment is so pervasive that
elections in the short term could lead to the rise of
Islamic-controlled governments hostile to the United States. . . .
But the argument [installing a new regime in Iraq will foster the
spread of democracy] has been pushed hardest by a group of officials
and advisors who have been the leading proponents of going to war
with Iraq. Prominent among them are Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy
defense secretary, and Richard Perle, chairman of the Defense Policy
Board, an influential Pentagon advisory panel. . . .
FULL TEXT
"Democracy and Islam," The Wisdom Fund
Faisal Bodi, "The West, Not Islam, is the Real
Enemy of Democracy," Guardian, January 13, 2003
Saied Reza Ameli, "Democracy in
Question - the Persecution of the Believers," Islamic Human Rights
Commission, June 30, 2003
[Arab states are largely squalid, corrupt, brutal dictatorships. No surprise
there. We created most of these dictators--Robert Fisk, "The fantasy
of democracy in an Arab state," Indpendent, February 13, 2004]