Can a democratic government function in Iraq?

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Are there any democratic Muslim states?

 

Yes there are....but there are no democratic Middle Eastern countries....other than Israel.

 

I am sure it could function if the sufficient investments were made. It takes time and a lot of effort to go from despotism/theocracy to a democracy. The process took several hundred years in Europe, the US had an edge by being founded as a democracy by people schooled in an idealistic age where people had understood that there was an alternative to despotism or theocracy.

 

Iran will be the first. There's no road better then one through theocracy. Look at GB. Outing the Shah was a first right step. Probing with other styles of goverment was the second. Getting rid of their goverment style now will be the third.

Iraq won't function that way. While the Kurds had their democratic playground for the last 10 years and succeded, ethnic tensions will hamper that movement, like their already on the rise over Kirkuk.

Even if Iraq has a secular tradition and a lot of good educated people, I think it's artifical existence and ethnic-religous-tribal differences will slow any fast progress. Not to mention that the resource-wealth of the land is concentrated at some spots, while others are poor. That's reason for conflict.

[ February 02, 2004, 13:38: Message edited by: Iago ]

 

The problem is that a democraatic culture needs time to develop. All those morons who refer to Germany as a model for "regime-change in 7 years" overlook that Germany in fact had a genuine democratic tradition that was only disrupted by nazi rule, and there were people with democratic experience and ideals.

In Iraq that all has to be built from a scratch. And in a hostile environment with a harassing resistance and violence. The US idea of regime change in Iraq totally overlooked the realities there.

For that failure alone - the belief in the plug & play invasion the neocons fed to George Bush - Rumsfeld, Perle, Wolfowitz and first of all Cheney deserve to get fired asap - to eliminate a looming source of disaster borne out of ideology, sheer incompetence, ignorance and arrogance. For the greater good of the US - because for most of them Iraq is just the beginning.

I agree that a theocracy isn't that bad. It is way better than a secular strongman as it has a legitimacy beyond force of arms - based on faith (islam doesn't separate between secular rule and religion - they are one).
More, a legitimate and accepted theorcratic rule offers stability and eventually rule of law. Even the Sharia is better than civil war. Any rule in Iraq will only succeed when it can establish legitimacy, and that will hardly be the case when rulers are appointed by the US like Mr. Chalabi.

The process to bring democracy to Iran will take time, as democracy isn't something you deliver at gunpoint: Choose freedom, or else ...

 

Umm..anyone heard of...Turkey?

 

Turkey is so laicistic, even to think about out is "muslim" is strange.

 

Turkey is not exactly a democracy. There is a democratic elected goverment indeed but don't forget that the army through the National Security Council plays a decisive role in the planning of domestic and foreign policy and usually it has the last word in all the important matters.