I love it when I am right. (which from my point of view is 90% of the time). Recent events have seemed to vindicate my old adage : “Be careful what you wish for, for you just may get it……”.
In Israel ( that’s not a misprint…..despite what the Palestinians may say), the inmates are now running the asylum. It really should surprise no one. Yassir Arafat’s cronies were all corrupt, the paletinians are no better off they were a few years ago, and they have not done item one to stop violence in their midst.
Plus its part of a greater pattern in the Middle East. Democracy may be taking hold there, but for the most part the voters in the respective countries are not making smart choices. Look at the laundry list of recent elections and their results:
Egypt- Islamic parties scored gains in parliamentary elections.
In Iraq voters rejected moderate candidates to give the Shite religious factions a majority. Much to the chagrin of the Sunni minority which is still, despite agreeing to honor the election result, screaming “ripoff”.
Iran- elects an idiot, a dangrerous one at that, who is deliberately escalating tensions in the region.
Then there is Saudi Arabia:
In Saudi Arabia, where political parties are banned, Islamist candidates running as independents won the largest share of the vote in elections to half the seats in municipal elections last year, the first democratic experiment in the kingdom. Even in Iraq, where Saddam Hussein had already been ousted from power, an Islamist Shia coalition has emerged with a near majority in parliament
One of the prerequisites of a good democracy is an informed electorate. Its a lot to presume that in the Middle Eastern countries such a thing really exists. Add to that the albatross of an apostate religion that serves no useful purpose in promoting the advancement of human rights…..and you get what you get. Its why some folks are encouraging the administration to re-think it’s ideas about forcible mid-wifery of democratic process, but rather to let them come from within. Hopefully the Iraq experience is convincing people that forcible birthing is not the way to go.
Be careful what you wish for…………….
