In the transition to tolerant, popular sovereignty, there are many tests. Now, today in Iraq, the first test is upon up--but not the one you think it is! Jeff Jarvis (buzzmachine.com] comments: "For the first time in years, Muslims in Iraq were able to go to Friday prayers in public. And did their imams take just a moment to thank Allah, if not the U.S. for this new religious freedom and their escape from tyranny? Not according to this report. Instead, they railed against both the U.S. occupation -- and democracy. That, of course, is because these religious dictators would like to take over. "Fartusi urged the faithful to follow the dictates of the Shiite 'Hawza,' the council of senior clergymen, and spelled out a code of conduct including a ban on music, mandatory veils for women and the primacy of Islamic over tribal law. "The cleric at one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines in the city of Karbala south-west of here was more explicit in denouncing the presence of US troops he called 'unbelievers.' "It is time for us infidel Westerners -- religious leaders and the leaders of the U.N., France, Germany, and all their fellow travelers -- to demand democracy for Iraq, to make it clear that we cannot trade a secular dictatorship for a religious dictatorship." True--but the real and necessary test before US departure will be possible is this: can fellow Muslims' say "Hell no--we won't go [fundamentalist]!" and NOT get assassinated? Dissent against the fundies followed by their murder is the rule in the mid-East. It's why Sadat was assassinated; it's why less famous dissenters are killed; it's what keeps democracy from gaining any roots in the Arab world; and it's why and how 9/11 was made possible through the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. OUR work will not be done in Iraq until it can. --Orson PS Another problem: can this test be passed without reformation of Islam itself?
Suggestion: Find a general that America can live with. Provide him with arms and leave. No victory is possible in Iraq and no democracy is possible. The rule of the rabble will be the rule of Islamic fundamentalists, not democrats.
Don't you mean contractors with connections to the White House or members of the shrub Cabinet instead of "OUR"? It seems friend of Bush are the only ones that are profiting from his war.
