'Force-fed' democracy won't work

[CShine]

French President Jacques Chirac criticised US President George W. Bush yesterday, saying his drive to spread democracy throughout the Middle East was ill-conceived. He also rejected Mr Bush's call to expand NATO's role in Iraq. Mr Chirac's criticism came at the G-8 summit of leading industrial democracies, which President Bush is hosting at a resort in Georgia.

The dissent set back White House hopes that the summit would display an international unity behind Mr Bush's policies in the Middle East and Iraq. Mr Chirac said democracy couldn't be achieved in the Middle East until there was substantial progress towards solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has stressed the same point privately, a senior administration official conceded, as do US Arab allies throughout the Middle East. Even once an Israeli-Palestinian peace was reached, Mr Chirac said, outsiders could not simply implant democracy in the region. "Democracy is not a method, it's a culture," he said. "Reform is not imposed from the outside. It is accomplished the inside."

He also challenged Mr Bush's desire to increase NATO's role in Iraq. Mr Bush had said during a photo session that he thought "NATO ought to be involved" in Iraq, adding that "we will work with our NATO friends to at least continue the role that now exists, and hopefully expand it".


http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9806697%255E401,00.html

[Malva Zebrina]

1. Oh well Bush thinks he can force anything on anybody

because he gots the great big military and the nukes with which to threaten others all over the world .

And he is a goddam Bush!!

This gives him a real rush which he loves to indulge in, as we have seen since he was governer of that great liberal state of Texas where justice is decided fairly according to how many guns one can carry into a public place, where he never ever reviewed a single case that was sceduled for the death penalty.

Killing and murder is his forte. He loves thinking he has this power over life and death. You better believe it.

It makes him, in his torutured and corrupt mind, a real man, even though he went AWOL from his own duty in time of war, and even though he ran away from us all when the towers of the WTC were struck and we all were in a panic. HE ran. HE ran, He ran away because as he said later in an interview, he was getting out of harm's way. We were all panicked--

It gives him a great big smirking satisfaction to think he can force others to do his will,all over the entire world!!!

because that is his sick delusion.

He is and has been over his head ever since he stole the election. The reason is that he is and always has been a spoiled brat who has been bailed out all of his life. He thinks he can pull the4 same stuff now, even though he is some 56 years old. He has, actually been able to get away with a lot on that premise, thanks to our Democrats in congress.

He is incompetent to run this country. He is rather a stupid and ignorant man who really is not running things in this government at all, but -plays one on TV. He is evil

[louis-t]

3. well said and

well said.

[arwalden]

9. You're Inside My Head...

... and you're typing the exact same things that I'm thinking (only doing a much better job that I could have).

-- Allen

[Darranar]

2. Bush isn't force-feeding democracy...

he is force-feeding a colonial regime.

[Tellurian]

4. RIGHT! Darranar, Bush is force feeding a buffet of democracy AND religion

Iraq's ownership and enslavement to the US!

[JM]

5. I've been saying this from the beginning

The notion that one can just drop democracy and just add water is ludicrous.

1) Our democracy was a combination of context and circumstance. Our democracy was developed internally according to a group of needs (to be free from England).
2) Our democracy was developed at a time when democracy and freedom in general was being sought throughout Europe, coincidentally, led by France.
3) Our Constitution took 13 years to develop despite only affecting likely less that 5 million people.

Imagine if the founding fathers arrived at the shores of the U.S. and found a country as it exists today. They would be trying to form a government that would impact 280 million people in 50 sovereign states. Of those states, you would have 80% of fresh water locked in 6 states, oil and gas in about 4 states, food grown primarily in about 20 states, and the majority of heavy industry in 15 states. That just covers the economics. Culture is a different matter. The founding fathers would find 250 years of established culture here.

In Iraq, we face three major cultures each having over 1000 years of history. They too have a diverse resource allocation. If our government took 13 years with barely anyone here and a relatively clean slate to work with, how do we expect a country with thousands of years of history and established culture to take 1 year to create a government?

JM

[Mokito]

6. Wise words, JM!

[donotpassgo]

7. You shut your mouth and love your freedom!!!!!

.

[iam]

8. dumbya

is an evil religious moron.