The Wisdom of the "Bush Doctrine"...

In the Baltimore Sun, Herbert London writes "Signs of Bush's Success Can't Be Diminished".

Alexander Solzhenitsyn once remarked that if the totalitarians covered the Earth in cement, there would be a crack and from it would emerge a plant. Despite all of the efforts to control free expression, despite the gulags and the secret police, despite radical mullahs and terror groups, the desire for democracy is inextinguishable.

This is what Mr. Bush is counting on. The tyrannies in the Arab world have received the message. It is not clear which one will next be in the president's sights, but if I were the Syrian or Iranian president, I would not be sleeping soundly.

This, I should hastily note, is not merely a military battle; it is - to use a well-worn cliché - a war of ideas. It is largely a question of letting grass-roots organizations make the democratic arguments the president has unleashed.

Even the ultra-Liberal UK Guardian (cautiously) admits that the policy of opposing tyranny and encouraging democracy in the Middle East is bearing fruit:

We must respect American power, and also acknowledge that the world sometimes has much need of it. As Sir Michael Howard, wisest of British strategic thinkers, often remarks: "If America does not do things, nobody else will." We should acknowledge the limitations of the UN. The pitiful performance of many international peacekeeping contingents, not least in Afghanistan, highlights the feebleness of what passes for European security policy.

Yet it still seems reasonable to question the optimism currently prevailing among Washington's neocons, because this remains founded upon a woefully simplistic vision. It is true that, in some chronic, unstable regions, some bad governments — those of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein — have been removed by the Americans. But the fragile advantages gained will be lost, unless Washington can match its boldness in the deployment of military power with a new sensitivity to alien cultures, matched by far more subtle political skills.

Democracy and freedom are fragile things. And the current changes taking place throughout the Middle East - Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Iran - will take time and patience but as long as the execution is consistent with the plan, there's no reason not to be optimistic.

Posted by: Gary at 09:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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