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To: Wycliffe
Dear Spengler,

Before you give advice you should DTR. Iraqis are not Arabs; therefore we are talking about building a "muslim Democracy" in Iraq, which is as easy as building a "palestinian State" in Israel, for people who clearly are "Jordanian".

Much Love, Darheel.

11 posted on 07/20/2004 9:23:59 AM PDT by Darheel (Visit the strange and wonderful.)
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To: Darheel; potlatch; Billthedrill

Here's a terrific piece if a bit old by Amir Taheri who I think is Iranian, saying that Islam and Democracy are incompatible

ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY: THE IMPOSSIBLE UNION
by Amir Taheri
The Sunday TImes
May 23, 2004
Iranian Muslim Amir Taheri says his faith cannot embrace western liberalism because our notions of equality are antithetical to the basis of Islam



In recent weeks there has been much soul-searching, in the Islamic world and among the wider Muslim diaspora about whether Islam is compatible with democracy. This sparked a debate hosted by Intelligence2, a forum I took part in last week. As an Iranian now living in a liberal democracy, I would like to explain why Islam and democracy are essentially incompatible.
To understand a civilisation it is important to comprehend the language that shapes it. There was no word in any of the Muslim languages for democracy until the 1890s. Even then the Greek word entered Muslim vocabulary with little change: democrasi in Persian, dimokraytiyah in Arabic, demokratio in Turkish.



Democracy is based on one fundamental principle: equality.

The Greek word isos is used in more than 200 compound nouns, including isoteos (equality), isologia (equal or free speech) and isonomia (equal treatment).

Again we find no equivalent in any of the Muslim languages. The words we have such as barabari in Persian and sawiyah in Arabic mean juxtaposition or separation.

Nor do we have a word for politics. The word siassah, now used as a synonym for politics, initially meant whipping stray camels into line. (Sa'es al-kheil is a person who brings back lost camels to the caravan.) The closest translation may be: regimentation.



12 posted on 07/22/2004 7:20:33 PM PDT by Wycliffe
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