Can Democracy Thrive in the Middle East?

Can Democracy Thrive in the Middle East?

"My friends, a future of liberty stands before you. It is your right. It is your dream. And it is your destiny." These were the words of President Bush as he spoke about his goals for democracy in the Middle East, but with civil unrest pervading the region, the realization of those goals is very much in question. In a region with such a complex history and unique traditions, can democracy ever truly thrive?

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  • “Yes”
  • “Objection”
David Bukay

These Allegations Are Really Fantastic

Dr. David Bukay

University of Haifa

These allegations are really fantastic. It is exactly in Iraq, in the Palestinian Authority and in Pakistan, where under the State Department pressures to let the people elect freely, and what we got is: a) anarchy and chaos in Iraq where hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis are butchered in the market-places, even in Mosques, which many of them ruined and demolished. Data clearly show that 80% of the terrorist attacks are by Iraqis against Iraqis, and only 20% are against Americans.

There are three options for Iraq: the first, military rule Saddam-Hussein style; the second, Iraq is dismantled into its three original sub-regions: Kurdish in the north, Sunni in the center (today even in the center there is a Shiite majority), and Shiite in the south; the third, it is be fallen under Iranian rule or its direct influence. Democracy is not one of the options.

In the Palestinian Authority the elections has brought to power the Hamas, and now they murder and butcher thousands of their fellows from Fath. In Gaza there is civil war, and out of the chaos, the people run away to Israel to get shelter. This was also the case in September 1970, when King Hussein of Jordan Butchered between 20,000 to 30,000 Palestinians, and thousands of them ran away to Israel. They knew, as they do today: in Israel they will be safe. In its democracy there is no butchering. This was the case in Lebanon, where President Hafiz al-Assad butchered 8000 Palestinians in Tripoli in November-December 1983, and ended the PLO presence in Lebanon.

In Pakistan, the real choice is between Musharraf and Bin Laden. The State Department pressured on "democratic elections," that caused Bhutto's murder, and the new weak coalition will bring about the Mujahidin ascendency - the radical Muslim groups' victory. This will form two Taliban-style rules in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, and the US will find itself intervening militarily in Pakistan – "to save the bomb."

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  • David Bukay
    David Bukay (Ph.D.), teaches at the School of Political Science in the University of Haifa. His main fields are: International Terrorism and Islamic fanaticism;... More

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