Can't you just feel the winds of democracy and freedom blowing across the Middle East! Wasn't it great when we installed democracy in Kuwait? Oh, what? We didn't? We put an oil-rich autocrat back on the throne? Huh. Odd that. Well, at least we have meaningful elections on Iraq, right? Oh, you say that the winners of that vote are promising to take away a host of basic freedoms that are recognized in the West, and that in many regions (maybe even the whole country!) women are going to be treated like second-class citizens in lots of ways? Huh. Well, that's too bad. But hey, over a thousand dead, over ten thousand maimed, and hundreds of billions spent at least makes one thing clear - we like freedom! And we won't give up our quest for its spread even if it results in only gradual progress (and if we have to prop up lots of torturers to do it). Really, really gradual. OK, glacial.
But there are still signs of hope. I mean elections are even coming to Saudi! True, women can't vote. And there's no input from its huge population of foreign workers. And no one under 21 has a say (but hey, only 2/3's of the country is in their teens or younger). And yeah, of the tiny proportion of people who live in Saudi who are allowed to have a voice in this process, only 25% have bothered to register to vote. And yeah, these are only municipal elections (I want a stop light at that intersection!). And yeah, they are in 3 stages so the government can "evaluate" them as the process unfolds. But progress is progress, right? Even if it's ... (hmmm, what's slower than a glacier?). And I'm sure that as long as we keep pursuing our current foreign policies freedom will soon ring from Mecca to Medina. Hey, maybe they won't even throw improperly dressed girls into burning buildings any more! Or, dare we dream, they might even allow a non-government approved religious ceremony to take place somewhere in the country!
Posted by armand at February 8, 2005 01:45 PM | TrackBack | Posted to International Affairs