Iraq's Democratic Revolution (Good News)

WSJ Opinion Journal ^ | February 22, 2004 | LARRY DIAMOND

[XHogPilot]

Civil society springs up in tyranny's wake.

Out of the ruins of one of the world's worst tyrannies, in an ancient land that has rarely known decent governance, a democracy is struggling to be born.

Iraq is one of the world's least likely sites for a transition to democracy. Virtually all of the classic preconditions for liberal government are lacking. And yet, with its decades-long despotism shattered, Iraq is now better positioned than any of its Arab neighbors to become a democracy in the next few years. That achievement, however tentative and imperfect, would ignite mounting aspirations for democratization from Iran to Morocco.

[XHogPilot]

Iraq is digging itself out of a decades deep hole.

[alnitak]

Led by liberal-minded Iraqi drafters designated by the Iraqi Governing Council, work is nearing completion on a Transitional Administrative Law that will structure government and guarantee rights from the transfer of sovereignty on June 30 to the seating of a democratically elected government under a new constitution. With its provisions for civil liberties, due process, separation of powers, devolution of power and other checks and balances, this will be the most liberal basic governance document anywhere in the Arab world. Civil society is springing up. Associations of women, students, professionals, journalists, human-rights activists and civic educators, along with independent think tanks, are building organizations, holding conferences and crafting the grant proposals that will enable them to work for democracy on a larger scale. In one university, a team of eight translators is at work full time translating works on democracy into Arabic.

Many thanks for posting this article. I, along with my fellow freepers, know that the news we hear on the TV at night is not the whole story on Iraq - to say the least. Still given the dearth of news from the CPA (does it have a website?) one sometimes worries. This article goes a long way to reassuring me.

[alnitak]

Answered my own question: Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority Home Page

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

A terrific article!

The thugs and terrorists are betting that if they generate enough terror and kill enough Americans, we will cut and run, as in Lebanon and Somalia.

Kerry would see that we did just that!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Nothing in this decade will so test our purpose and fiber as a nation, and our ability to change the world for the better, as our willingness to stand with the people of Iraq over the long haul as they build a free country.

[kitkat]

BUMP

[ValenB4]

What do we do if Iraq someday democratically votes to produce nuclear weapons? Would we have to go to war with it again?

[BOBTHENAILER]

New construction alone will dramatically reduce unemployment.

Saw a section on the Iraqi economy on Fox News a few days back. It is really turning around. Pre-war unemployment was estimated at 50-75%. Right now it is down to 20% and getting better all the time.

Kerry would not like this news. Right now, he is spending more time underming our efforts there, emailing the Iranian thug mullahs for campaign cash and generally doing his level best to CUT & RUN.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thanks for the post and ping!
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On the ground in Iraq, the picture is quite different from the news we see at home. Yes, there are bloody acts of terrorism every few days. But it is not Iraqis who are staging the suicide bombings. Increasingly, Iraqis are fed up with this violence and turning in the criminals who are waging it. The dwindling ranks of saboteurs and dead-enders, in cahoots with al Qaeda and other jihadists, can blow up buildings and kill people. But they cannot rally Iraqis to any alternative political vision. They can win only if we walk away and hand them victory. Fortunately (for now), the administration, Congress, the American people and key elements of the international community are not wavering. They are supporting an ambitious agenda for democratic transformation and reconstruction.

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Thousands of brave troops traveled across Iraq in convoys this month, now safely arrived, to replace the awesome troops now heading home.

Good news abounds.

Boycott AP.

Spread the "news."

Thank you.

(^:

[goldstategop]

We will have to be in Iraq for decades just like we are in Germany. It will take at least a generation perhaps two, for democratic habits of mind and institutions to take root in the country.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[blackie]

Iraq's Democratic Revolution (Good News) ~ Bump!

[windchime]

Bump!

[Austin Willard Wright]

Yes indeed. The central planners in the state department are miracle makers. All they need is time, blood, and treasure. Heck, we had troops for nearly generation in Haiti from the 1910s to the 1930s and they did wonders!

[windchime]

Bump!