2006-02-16-U.S. aid for dissidents |
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jewishsightseeing.com, February 16, 2006 |
By Ira Sharkansky
JERUSALEM —The news includes an item that Secretary of
State Condolezza Rice wants to spend $85 million on dissident groups,
unions, students, and media within Iran to promote reform and human
rights activity.
Wonderful. The people who have sought to bring democracy
to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine are now focusing on Iran. Soon the
Middle East will belie what Moshe Arens said years ago, i.e., that it is
not the Middle West.
Haiti does not seem to be in better shape, and neither
Venezuela nor Nigeria are performing like good citizens in the
democratic assembly, but my primary concern is this neighborhood.
I do not doubt that the convinced can point to indicators
of success wherever the Bushies have sought to enlighten the political
heathen. How many Americans, Iraqis, and Afghans will be buried before
the process is abandoned and success declared from whatever happens? I
would not count on $85 million solving the problem of an Iranian
government that denies the Holocaust or wants to produce another one
with its own nuclear weapons.
Reliable reports are that both Palestinian and Israeli
officials wanted to postpone the Palestinian election out of fear that
Hamas would do well. The United States administration stood four square
for ongoing democracy. Let the people decide. Now we are all dealing
with a Hamas majority in the parliament, and experimenting with
convoluted new institutions and formulations to deal with the
consequences. Among the current dreams is that financial aid to
nongovernmental organizations will help the Palestinian people without
helping Hamas. Nonsense. The first thing Hamas will do is take control
of the nongovernmental organizations, just like Fatah did when it was in
power. Either do what we want, or else!
Maybe democracy is not suitable for populations that are
not likely to vote the way we want. Or maybe the process of politics
requires more subtlety than the White House can produce. Parliamentary
regimes, like Great Britain, learned long ago to time elections to
public moods, in order to get the most desirable results.
My own gut tells me that democracy is not an answer when
an inward looking Islam is on the ascendance, and promoting its
certainty of truth and the evil of Jews, Americans, and other
unbelievers. Majorities in the Middle East and a few other places do not
seem to be our friends. It is not nice to contemplate, but it is wise to
accept reality when doing political calculations.
Sharkansky is an emeritus member of the political science department at Hebrew University in Jerusalem |
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