Democracy is more than freedom to pick a leader

Submitted by Dr RJP (United States), Apr 3, 2006 at 16:22

What we have in Iraq and Afghanistan are democracies only in the context of voting freedom. The peoples of both countries are hardly free to follow the dictates of one's own conscience. The people of Iraq missed the whole point of toppling Saddam's regime: it was not to clear the way for everyone to get a piece of the pie, but it was the beginning of a process whereby people of different faiths, cultures, tribal alliances, and geographic backgrounds can build a new country based on ideals and goals common to all.

What Iraq needs is a Declaration of Independence to make it clear that it has not become a free-for-all with the winner getting all the spoils. Arabs have not yet grasped the idea of sharing, and working for the common good in a country that treats all people the same whether they are rich or poor, Sunni or Shiite, male or female.

Building an infrastructure in Iraq will be a whole lot easier than building a consensus. Until Arabs can make a statement like, "All men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights," democracy has no future. There will continue to be sectarian violence because of the mindset that "This group was in control before and now it's our turn."

The war is not yet a success because we have not defeated the enemy. The enemy is not Saddam or the forces who remained loyal to Saddam. The enemy are the forces who hate and distrust America, and who feed off the fears of the masses. The enemy is, in reality, right next door in Iran.

After being low dog under Saddam's regime, Shiites want to be top dog, even if it means everyone else suffers. Iraq and Iran fought each other for eight years and could only reach a stalemate after millions of lives were sacrificed to their respective causes.

What will be the "cause" that binds the New Iraq?

Hopefully, it will be a nation that refuses to let the tactics and ideology of terrorism hold sway. Hopefully, it will be a nation that will make its neighbors jealous of its standard of living and of its citizens' freedoms. Hopefully, it will be a nation that repays the US in kind for the great debt it paid in freeing them from a monster.

In other words, I hope that the New Iraq will recognize Israel and will commit itself to fighting against radical Islamists of all persuasions.

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