Thinking of what’s happening in the middle east, with Israel’s entaglement with Hizbullah and the entire mess in Iraq, one has to think back to Kissinger and Bismark and whether idealism failed.
The current American policy is absolutely on the side of right: promote democracy around the world, reduce reliance on regimes that are dictatorial and tyranical. In that vein, overthrowing Saddam and pushing the Syrians out of Lebanon were great successes. Then you have to think, not without cynicism, about whether a country is *ready* for democracy.
A great article in the Wall Street Journal adovcated the return of Syria into Lebanon; apologize to the Assad regime, and given his severing his relations with Iran, make Lebanon a Syrian protectorate. Syria has nothing of the issues democratic regimes have dealing with Muslim extremists; Syria has no problem reversing course either, lacking any opposition. Syria ran Lebanon and did a decent job, relatively, helping the country regain economical stability. If they agree to kick Hizbullah out, all the more better.
As for Iraq – was Saddam *really* that bad? was it really that bad to have a counterweight as vicious and evil for Iran? Saddam definitely treated his citizens in the harshest of ways. Still, Kissinger and McNamara would have followed the rationale that for the US, for the West, it is better to sacrifice the people of Iraq for the interests of the West. Looking at Iraq today – are the people better now than 15 years ago?
