“Are the peoples of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty? Are millions of men and women and children condemned by history or culture to live in despotism? Are they alone never to know freedom and never even to have a choice in the matter?”... “Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe - because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty,” “As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment and violence ready for export.” - GWBush
The aspiration is wonderful, but so far in the Middle East, it has proven only to be an aspiration. Only in U.S. occupied Iraq has anything approaching ‘liberty’ been achieved. Far too often, as in Gaza and Lebanon, elections lead to the ascension of antidemocratic forces. Even long-secular Turkey is moving backwards. It is yet to be determined if Arab Muslim culture will ever be compatible with liberal democracy. I have my doubts. We wish the people of Egypt well, particularly the Coptic Christians, who have suffered so much, but revolutions are to be embraced with extreme caution; there was only one George Washington.