Worth trying

Tom Friedman's latest op-ed is well worth reading:

In short, we need these elections in Iraq to see if there really is a self-governing community there ready, and willing, to liberate itself - both from Iraq's old regime and from us. The answer to this question is not self-evident. This was always a shot in the dark - but one that I would argue was morally and strategically worth trying. Because if it is impossible for the peoples of even one Arab state to voluntarily organize themselves around a social contract for democratic life, then we are looking at dictators and kings ruling this region as far as the eye can see. And that will guarantee that this region will be a cauldron of oil-financed pathologies and terrorism for the rest of our lives.

This has always been my central argument for the war on Iraq. Simply put, I believe that Democracies cannot exist peacefully with repressive regimes. Sure, there can be temporary peace, detante if you will, but nothing more. In most regions of the world, this isn't a huge problem. Yes, there are plenty of countries that have repressive regimes, but we are encouraged by and large by the fact that democracy is making progress almost everywhere. Until Iraq (which is hardly a decided issue, although I am optomistic) the almost meant the Arab world. If Arabs are incapable of democracy (a position I strongly dispute) then the best we can do, perhaps all we can do, to do put them under our boot. From a practicle point I doubt that we would be very good at such an endeavor and were we to become the type of society that would be good at it, well, that would not be a victory I would seek. So Iraq is a desperate gamble that Arabs CAN live in a Democracy. That they CAN accept that those not of their tribe have rights as well. My understanding of Arab history as well as that of other nations and peoples leads me to the firm belief that both are undeniably true. My reading of Iraqi blogs leads me to the belief that they not only can they do this, but that they will do this.