QandO

July 06, 2004

Excising the myth
Posted by McQ

The myth is that Iraq can't sustain a democracy. It has no tradition, it has no experience, because its Muslim, democracy has no chance, etc. etc, etc. ... or so goes the 'conventional wisdom' of some.

Interesting developments in Indonesia, the largest predominantly Muslim nation in the world, is in the middle of having its first free elections. These in the wake of a rule of 32 years by a dictator, Suharto:

The election - the first time Indonesians voted directly for president - was praised by the European Union and other monitors as a smooth, peaceful process. The strong turnout of about 81 percent, they said, showed that Indonesia's 140 million voters had embracing democracy six years after the fall of President Suharto and his 32-year dictatorship.

So to all the naysayers and doomsdayers about Iraq's chances, put a sock in it. There's absolutely nothing which precludes them from establishing a free society in their tradition, experience or religion. Turkey is another example in the region which emerged from basically dictatorial rule to establish a democracy. Its taken them quite a while ... but they've done it. And if you'll note, its taken 6 years in relatively peaceful Indonesia to get it going in the right direction.

So all you "instant gratification" types who think this should have been over 6 months ago ... get real and get a grip. This is just beginning, and we're light years ahead of where I thought we'd be at this time.

ADDENDUM (Dale): And it wasn't just the Suharto dictatorship, either. Sukarno ran the place like his own personal dog kennel for a couple of years prior to that.

And Kenya, having gotten rid of the odious Daniel Arap Moi, has already had democratic elections, and are in the middle of deep reforms of the civil service and police to purge the old regime's way of doing things.

People, when given a choice, generally prefer to be free, rather than to live in fear of the midnight knock on their door from uniformed goons. They may make the transition to democracy more painfully and imperfectly than we'd like, but the trend is toward consensual government, not away from it.

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