Q: Is President Bush pushing for democracy too quickly in post-Saddam Iraq? No: The sooner democracy is established, the sooner Iraq will become a reliable ally of the West

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Dec 8, 2003 | by Radwan Masmoudi

Byline: Radwan Masmoudi, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Can democracy succeed in Iraq? Despite our numerous mistakes in Iraq (going to war prematurely and the very slow pace of reconstruction), I believe that Iraq can become a real democracy and that we must stay the course and make sure this happens. Failure to do so will spell disaster for us and for the region for decades to come, and will discredit the United States in the eyes of the whole world.

Now that Saddam Hussein no longer is in power, it is necessary to hold elections in Iraq as soon as possible to let Iraqis govern themselves and hold their rulers accountable for change. A one-year time frame is not unrealistic or impossible, but certainly this should be done within two years. Having an elected transitional government will relieve the United States of the dangers inherent in a long-term occupation of the country.

True, some argue that democracy in Iraq in the near term would destabilize the region. This is a misguided fear of the unknown. Iraqis, who have been devastated by 25 years of oppressive rule, will not vote for authoritarian secularists nor for a theocratic government. They have been inoculated against dictatorship and will never allow another dictator to rule over them. The leaders who are likely to emerge from a popular election in Iraq, whether held tomorrow or 10 years from now, are conservative Muslim democrats who combine Islamic conservative values with democratic ideals and principles.

Those who advocate "stability" in the Middle East have not been in the region lately to see how people there live in extreme poverty and with corruption, lack of education and lack of dignity. Economic development cannot happen without good governance, accountability, the rule of law, separation of powers and transparency to fight corruption and mismanagement. An elected government is more likely to win the trust, the loyalty and the cooperation of the Iraqi people.

The current regimes in the Middle East have failed miserably and, if they want to remain, they must change. In many countries of the Middle East and the wider Muslim world, unemployment ranges between 30 and 50 percent, illiteracy is between 60 and 70 percent and more than 50 percent of the population is younger than 25 years of age. If this is not a recipe for disaster, I don't know what is! Arab and Muslim countries are rich in natural resources (oil, gas, phosphates, etc.) yet only about 5 to 10 percent of the population is benefiting from these resources. While these privileged few live in luxury, the majority (80 to 90 percent) of the people are struggling to put bread on the table.

This economic deprivation is only a sign that these regimes have outlasted their usefulness. What is worse is the level of oppression under which all society, especially the youth, lives. This situation cannot continue for much longer without the expectation of increased violence, anger and acts of desperation, which in turn will be used to justify more-oppressive policies. The cycle of hatred and violence must be broken.

We live in an age of globalization, when a speech in a small-town church in the South is heard halfway around the globe faster and louder than it is heard by the next-door neighbors. Arabs and Muslims (who, as President George W. Bush pointed out, represent one-fifth of humanity) watch on their televisions and computer screens as other nations elect and replace their leaders almost every month, whereas Arabs and Muslims are accustomed to being stuck with the same leaders for 20 or 30 years. Such people are hungry for representative government because it will return to them their dignity and their humanity. The people of the Middle East, especially the youth, cannot and will not be excluded from the Information Age and from demanding their rights of equality, dignity and the pursuit of their dreams and aspirations.

Bush's speech at the National Endowment for Democracy on Nov. 6 was wonderful and inspiring. I was in the audience, and I found myself nodding in agreement and moved by almost every sentence. The speech could become a major historical event for the Middle East and for relations between the United States and the Muslim world. At long last U.S. policymakers are convinced that supporting dictators and oppressive regimes is not the way to peace and stability. Even if friendly dictators serve some short-term benefits and interests, in the long run they create so much desperation, anger and hopelessness that it ultimately results in chaotic and violent overthrows. The stability that they claim to provide is fake and explosive.

The best thing the United States can do to improve its relations and image in the Muslim world is to align its foreign policies with its own universal underpinnings and moral values of freedom, justice, equality and dignity for all.

Many people in the United States and abroad argue that democracy is not compatible with Islam and Islamic values and traditions. This is untrue and unfair. For more than 1,000 years Islam has advocated and practiced freedom of thought, freedom of religion and respect for human dignity. Islam emphasizes that there is "no compulsion in religion" and that faith must be a matter of personal choice and conviction. God created us to be free and gave us the freedom to believe or not to believe, to obey his commandments or not to obey. Freedom of religion and freedom of conscience therefore is a prerequisite for human life and human dignity. That is why Muslims, Christians and Jews have lived peacefully for centuries in the Middle East. Many Americans do not know that between 20 and 30 percent of Palestinians are Christian and that there are millions of Christian and Jewish Arabs who live from Morocco to Egypt to Yemen.