Bush and Democracy in the Middle East


To most of us, democracy, in a meaningful sense, means things like majority rule, checks and balances, protection of minorities and legal rights for those out of power, the rule of law, a vigorous free press and the freedom to live your life within that framework. Now there have been real democracy workers in Iraq talking the issues one expects if Bush were really concerned about democracy.

But the resources devoted to democracy were always poor compared to the resources devoted to the military and American contractors. While American specialists were going around Iraq giving lectures on democracy, we had things that hardly seemed to be about democracy, things such as Abu Ghraib, the destruction of Fallujah, detainees, a press that was paid to run articles by Americans, etc.

Perhaps when Bush talks about democracy, it's just a code word for American power, privatization and the needs of American business. In the end, whatever Bush is talking about, it isn't about the Iraqis.