The con in conservative

Washington Monthly, June, 2003

Hats off to Joshua Micah Marshall's unveiling of the messianic mission of the neocons to "fix" the Middle East, in his article "Practice to Deceive" (April). But while Marshall does an admirable job of assessing the earthly risks incurred by the administration's implementation of its cartoon ideology, he accepts the basic worldview: that Islamic terrorism is rooted in Muslim fundamentalism and in the poverty and corruption of the "failed" Arab States. That worldview suggests only two alternatives: either "fix" the Middle East, Captain America-style, or do nothing and allow the bin Ladens to continue their war of terror.

I suppose it would be too much to ask that Marshall might place just a teensy bit of the onus for Islamic terrorism on the political, economic, and military intervention of the United States in the Middle East during the past 50-odd years, which might suggest that there is a third option for defusing Islamic terrorism: allowing genuine self-determination in that region by treating them with a little respect. But of course, there is a three-letter word that explains why that is simply not an option for those who are so unfortunate as to sit atop of a whole mess of fossilized vegetation.

KESHINI LADDUWAHETTY

Washington, D.C.

Joshua Micah Marshall asks what we will do if the Iraqis choose a government we can't live with. The first National Assembly election is highly likely to produce a government led by a coalition of Shi'a religious parties. Iraq's population is highly divided by ethnic and religious groups that will largely vote for their own, leading to a fractured parliament that works to the advantage of religious parties. Two rival secular parties split the Kurds, who constitute under a quarter of Iraq's population. Shi'a Arabs constitute 60 percent of the country, and while secular Shi'a parties will be organizing from scratch, Shi'a religious parties will benefit from an existing network of mosques from which to tap funds, recruit workers, and conduct their political campaigns.

Finally, nascent secular parties of the Sunni Arabs, who make up 17 percent of Iraq's population, are likely to be splintered and weak--but once again Sunni religious parties that can exploit Sunni mosques will have an edge. Since no single party will win a majority of votes, Shi'a religious parties are likely to lead in forming a coalition. We can only presume that this is not the girl that the neo-cons had hoped to walk home from the dance.

DENNIS JONES

Vienna, Va.

Joshua Micah Marshall writes, "it's conceivable that bold American action could democratize the Middle East" But it really isn't. And some conservatives--those few who value democracy and are free of the aristocratic pretensions and longings of the National Review crowd--know this. For most of them, however, a democratic Near East means nothing more than a pleasing facade behind which the supranationals might work their will free of any serious opposition. With any luck, they might eventually repeat the process at home. These patriots are fakes and frauds.

ALEX MACDONALD

San Francisco, Calif.