This is the message from Peter Wehner to William F. Buckley, George Will, and Francis Fukuyama.
A small group of current and former conservatives--including George Will, William F. Buckley Jr. and Francis Fukuyama--have become harsh critics of the Iraq war. They have declared, or clearly implied, that it is a failure and the president's effort to promote liberty in the Middle East is dead--and dead for a perfectly predictable reason: Iraq, like the Arab Middle East more broadly, lacks the democratic culture that is necessary for freedom to take root. And so for cultural reasons, this effort was flawed from the outset. Or so the argument goes.
His article then refutes all three arguments. It's an interesting read.
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Comments (12)
Meanwhile, in Kuwait, a lan... (Below threshold)1. Posted by GeoBandy | April 5, 2006 11:46 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Meanwhile, in Kuwait, a land rich in historical traditions and institutions of democracy, President Washington and Secretary of State Madison are presiding over elections in which women are not only voting, but running for office for the first time. Citizens, including women, now vote in Bahrain. And Qatar. And Afghanistan. And Iraq. Places where NO ONE voted until very, very recently. Egypt has its first woman cabinet-level minister ever, following elections in Egypt.
The genie of democracy is out of the bottle, and while no one can tell where it will lead, the truth is the Arab world is already being transformed.
Rome wasn't built in a day. And even our own "preordained" domestic tranquility and democratic union wasn't always quite so obvious before the perspective of hindsight. The Mason-Dixon Line, for example, originally had nothing to do with slavery. It was an attempt to end a border dispute between two neighboring colonies, a dispute which had grown so heated at times that those colonies had dispatched their militias and skirmished over frontier towns.
1. Posted by GeoBandy | April 5, 2006 11:46 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 11:46
2. Posted by nobushfan | April 5, 2006 12:42 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Now isn't the time to lose your nerve? Why not? The GOP has already lost it's credibility.
What total losers you apologists for the corrupt Republathug party have become.
2. Posted by nobushfan | April 5, 2006 12:42 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 12:42
3. Posted by bryanD | April 5, 2006 12:49 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"Why We Fight" by Dear Abby! READ! READ!
3. Posted by bryanD | April 5, 2006 12:49 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 12:49
4. Posted by McGehee | April 5, 2006 1:28 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Well, if "nobushfan" says it, it must be twue.
4. Posted by McGehee | April 5, 2006 1:28 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 13:28
5. Posted by John Irving | April 5, 2006 1:49 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Now now, McGhee, you're just assuming he's referring to President Bush with his handle.
5. Posted by John Irving | April 5, 2006 1:49 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 13:49
6. Posted by Wayne | April 5, 2006 1:49 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Culture takes decade's to change not months or a handful of years with exceptions of mast devastation events.
6. Posted by Wayne | April 5, 2006 1:49 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 13:49
7. Posted by lakestate | April 5, 2006 1:53 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Seems if things keep going the way they are - there soon will be a Civil War...
Not in Iraq, but here in the good ol' USA. It's already a Cold Civil War between the Moonbats (Cindy Sheehan, et. al.) and the Consevatives. Just add race baiting (Cindy McKinney, Hollywood, Dumbocrats et. al.) and illegal immigrant spice and we have a recipe for an "in-house" battle of our own, or at a minimum, a full fleged seperatist movement like Canada.
7. Posted by lakestate | April 5, 2006 1:53 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 13:53
8. Posted by nobushfan | April 5, 2006 2:00 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Well, if "nobushfan" says it, it must be twue.
Posted by: McGehee at April 5, 2006 01:28 PM
McGehee:
Are you claiming that the GOP still has credibility? Oh yeah, there's still the Dept of Homland Secuirty - as long as you don't count 55 year old child molesters. Hahahaha.
8. Posted by nobushfan | April 5, 2006 2:00 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 14:00
9. Posted by Nicholas | April 5, 2006 3:48 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
nobushfan, stop parodying yourself! My sides hurt!
credibility... from a "leftie"... bwahahaaha
9. Posted by Nicholas | April 5, 2006 3:48 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 15:48
10. Posted by moseby | April 5, 2006 4:03 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I agree with lakestate, a civil war could be coming. We all know how that would end too. Conservatives blasting the "S" out of the faggy, hollywood draped, liberal armies waving white flags imported from france.
10. Posted by moseby | April 5, 2006 4:03 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 16:03
11. Posted by McGehee | April 5, 2006 4:35 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
President Bush!? I thought he was referring to ... you know ... that other kind of bush.
Not that there's, yadda yadda yadda.
11. Posted by McGehee | April 5, 2006 4:35 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 16:35
12. Posted by Eon the terrible | April 5, 2006 10:37 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
HAVE THEY GONE FROM BEING HEFTY,HEFTY HEFTY TO BEING WHIMPY WHIMPY WHIMPY?
12. Posted by Eon the terrible | April 5, 2006 10:37 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 5, 2006 22:37