Friday, August 30, 2002

Democracy to Go Democracy to Go David Ignatius writes an interesting piece in the Washington Post today saying that the conservatives who want to confront the Arabs about democracy have common cause with Liberals.  He then goes on to say Here is where the left and right should converge -- in supporting democracy and human rights across the Arab world. America doesn't need to go to war (beyond Iraq) or topple governments willy-nilly. It just needs to be true to its values, and never deviate from its long-term strategy for the sake of preserving the status quo. The problem with this is that the U.S. has never been true to democracy in its foreign policy.  The conservatives who criticize the oppression and lack of democracy in the Arab states don't say a word when Musharaff extends his dictatorship in Pakistan.  They don't say a word about respecting the elected leaders of the Palestinians.  The fact that Yasser Arafat is democratically elected is not important to them.  So they pick and choose the democracies they like, and when it is convenient to support them. Ignatius and others who are so quick to say the U.S. supports democracy should be more principled themselves. Another blog I like is called Life during wartime.  It has an extensive collection of links and news sources on the various conflicts that make up the world war we seem to be living through.     6:01:44 PM   comment []

© Copyright 2002 Toby Sackton. Last update: 12/26/2002; 9:29:45 PM.