http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=396453FOREIGN POLICY
Democracy Hypocrisy
The democratic progress that has taken place in recent weeks in Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories has been an extremely positive development for the Middle East and the world. Unfortunately, many conservatives are using these events as an opportunity to score cheap political points, claiming they provide (yet another) justification for the Iraq war. For example, in the New York Times last Saturday, David Brooks wrote, "people around the Arab world look at voters in Iraq and ask, Why not here?" The only evidence Brooks provided that anyone in the Arab world feels this way is a quote by a Lebanese dissident named Walid Jumblatt. Apparently, Brooks feels comfortable basing his theory on the opinions of a man who, just two months earlier, said "we are all happy when U.S. soldiers are killed
week in and week out. The killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq is legitimate and obligatory." Instead of spending time creating another elaborate justification for losing 1,500 American troops and $200 billion on a war of choice, conservatives should take a hard look at the Bush administration's actual record on democracy promotion, which is decidedly mixed. The record shows that "rather than a democratic idealist, Bush is better described as someone who has co-opted the language of democracy while pursuing business-as-usual policies."