Freedom's Fidelity

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Democracy in Iraq

It seems that there is a less of a need to promote democracy in Iraq. The insurgency is doing it for us.

And over at the Belmont Club, the invaluable Wretchard summarizes what's really at stake:

If the issues in Iraq have been muddled beforetime by the polemic over 'weapons of mass destruction' or Saddam's connection to the September 11 attacks, the Syrian and Iranian attempts to prevent the scheduled elections have at last put things in their proper perspective. The central issue in Iraq is whether an Arab people can win their freedom in despite of the worst efforts of tyrannical and terrorist regimes to prevent it. The blasts which ripped through the Shi'ite holy places and the bullets which smashed the skulls of Iraqi election works have also blown aside the fog of propaganda with which the ancien regime sought to hide its campaign of suppression. It is not about 'blood for oil' or 'Jesusland': no; it is about the Iraqi people seeking to choose their future, backed by America on the one hand and the traditional tyrannies of the Middle East aided by their European Allies and the United Nations bureaucracy seeking to prevent it on the other. That is not to say that traditional geopolitics or human greed have nothing to do with the overall mixture; nor to argue that commercial cupidity and ambition are absent from Iraq. But it is essential to recognize the fundamental issues involved and where the cause of right lies, this day, this hour; until the elections on January 30.

I cannot recall where, but I recently read what I think is an apt description of Iraq. Think of it as a ball rolling down the street. Inside the ball are many different parts spinning in different directions, but the direction of the ball on the whole is consistent and eventually all of the parts within the ball will be spinning in sync - heading toward democracy and hope, away from tyranny and death.

posted by Paul  permalink | |