ExtremeWisdom

Islam starts to Reform itself - One of the goals of Toppling Saddam

Prior to invasion of Iraq, I argued that Saudi Arabia was an indirect target, as was the need to break the status quo in the Middle East.

Mistakes may have been made in the handling of post-invasion policy, but the long term success is almost guaranteed.  I wish I had the time to post all the articles pointing out that when the entire world watched Iraqis vote, Tyrants around the world felt their sphincters pucker.

Of course, Bush couldn't have "sold" the war on those terms.  I keep pointing out that he should have been able to.

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Saudi Arabia bans forced marriage (BBC, 4/12/04)

Saudi Arabia's top religious authority has banned the practice of forcing women to marry against their will.

Grand mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh said forced marriage was against Islamic law and those responsible for it should be jailed.

A high number of forced marriages in Saudi Arabia is believed to be a factor in the country's steep divorce rate.

The ban is a significant victory for women's rights in Saudi Arabia, where females face a range of restrictions.

NeoCons were the used, Not the users

As the Middle East gropes and claws its way to a more democratic future, many on the left are saying "Bush & Iraq had nothing to do with it" while some on the right are crowing (perhaps a bit too soon) "we told you so."

Amidst this Sunday talk show banter, a few voices are starting to put a different spin on the "Bush Lied" mantra.  In this article, the writer posits the idea that - contrary to the notion that Bush was "hijacked" by a powerful band of "neocons" vis-a-vis Iraq - he was instead the one "using" the neocons.

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Excerpt from "Bush: The strategist in the shadows":

Is US President George W Bush a dimwitted bumpkin who allowed a cabal to deceive him into undertaking a foolish war in Iraq? Or is he a competent strategist following a cynical plan that may bring about a settlement in the Middle East?

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The next question facing Bush was the tactic to get rid of Saddam. After a short detour into Afghanistan, caused by the attacks of September 11, 2001, Bush's focus returned to the Middle East and Iraq. Speaking in early 2003, before the invasion of Iraq, he predicted a "new stage for Middle East peace" once Saddam lost power. He saw the time was ripe to move on Iraq using the neo-conservative gambit.

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The popular perception is that a clever cabal of neo-cons used deceptive tactics to sway a rather dim-witted president into attacking Iraq.

If my analysis is closer to the truth, the situation was just the opposite: Bush saw a group - the neo-cons - who were both arrogant enough and foolish enough to think that their hands could guide US policy from the shadows backstage. To Bush, they were a godsend. He used the neo-cons by letting them think they were steering US policy toward Iraq.

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This sounds more reasonable than the stale and silly "Bush is an idiot" mantra of the snobbish left (and right, I might add).  Whether you love or hate this President, at some point you have to wonder why keeps on "winning".

Regardless, the "moron guided by evil genius neocons" never made much sense.  For an absolutely fantastic essay on neocons, their place in the world, and how much power they really have, read this essay.  It is long, but very insightful.

Bush was the rider, NOT the one ridden.  (hat tip to BrothersJudd for the metaphor)

Bush, Democracy, & the Direction of the Wind

Here is a post from my favorite blog, which in turn is posting from another great blog.

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It is barely six weeks since the US President delivered his second inaugural address, a paean to liberty and democracy that espoused the goal of "ending tyranny in our world". Reactions around the world ranged from alarm to amused scorn, from fears of a new round of "regime changes" imposed by an all-powerful American military, to suspicions in the salons of Europe that this time Mr Bush, never celebrated for his grasp of world affairs, had finally lost it. No one imagined that events would so soon cause the President's opponents around the world to question whether he had got it right. [...]

The winds of change

Libya

No sign yet of democracy arriving in the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamiriyah. Although once regarded by the West as a pariah state, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's decision to take responsibility for the Lockerbie bombings and renounce WMD brought it back into the fold. However it remains a dictatorship.

Palestinian Authority

The post-Arafat era has begun. Palestinians voted for a new president in January's free elections and a parliamentary poll is set for July. New leader Mahmoud Abbas is raising hopes of peace but it is still unclear whether he will be able to exert control over militant groups and negotiate a territorial deal with Israel.

Lebanon

Assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri acted as a catalyst for change. Syria today begins withdrawing its forces to the eastern Bekaa Valley. Free elections may take place in May after protests brought Black down the pro-Syrian Sea government. Not known when a final pull-out of Syrian forces will take place.

Syria

Washington and Damascus are locked in a dialogue of the deaf. President Bashar Assad refuses to relinquish his trump cards (support for Hizbollah and radical Palestinians) as long as conflict with Israel over Golan Heights continues. Blamed for the murder of Rafik Hariri, Assad has reluctantly ordered his forces in Lebanon to pull back.

Iraq

Bush and his allies believe democracy is finally flowering in Iraq. Eight million voted to elect government in January. A constitution enshrining personal, political and religious freedoms is to be drawn up by October. But a bloody insurgency continues to mar progress. The under-representation of Sunnis in the new government will be a problem.

Egypt

President Hosni Mubarak -- unopposed in power since 1981 -- surprised the West in February announcing multi-candidate presidential elections for September. Health troubles have sparked succession worries though Mubarak has denied a plan for dynastic succession by his son Gamal. A close US ally, Egypt receives $3bn a year in tied aid.

Saudi Arabia

Fearful of change, accustomed to a system in which it holds enormous power and privileges, the Saudi royal family views serious reform as a risk not worth taking, although the greatest risk to its survival comes from doing nothing at all. Elections for local councils were recently held for the first time, but women were barred from voting.

Yemen

Yemen is a fragile not a failed state. A nascent democracy with the most open political system in the Arabian Peninsula, its government has shown a general commitment to developing the instruments of a modern state and has cooperated with international efforts to uproot the al-Qa'ida network. Presidential elections planned for this year.

Kuwait

Kuwait's parliament has agreed to speed up moves towards a law to grant women the same political rights as men. The decision came amid noisy street rallies by women activists. The country's ruler, Sheikh Jabir al-Ahmad al-Sabah, is moving slowly towards giving women the vote. But political parties remain outlawed.

Bahrain

Voted in 2001 to become a constitutional monarchy with elected parliament and independent judiciary.

Qatar

Greater political openness since current head of state came to power in 1995. Democratic elections were held in 1999.

Bush was Right all along

Oh the frothing rabid left must hate this.  Just as Reagan's supposed long-shot bet that the USSR was a hollowed out shell ripe for collapse, Bush's bet that the Middle East was ripe for reform is paying off.

First Afghanistan, then Iraq, then Ukraine, & now Lebanon...

The forces pushing for self-rule are shifting the ground under the dictatorial model.  Who knows, maybe the "Orange" revolution may be felt in Washington State.

Regardless, this article says it all.

Excerpt:

Walid Jumblatt is not the sort to be described as a friend of the United States, much less of the Bush Administration. In November 2003, the Druze leader and Lebanese parliamentarian described Paul Wolfowitz as a "virus" and regretted that the Deputy Defense Secretary hadn't been killed in a terrorist rocket strike on his Baghdad hotel the month before. So it says something about the changing face of Middle East politics that Mr. Jumblatt seems to have converted to Mr. Wolfowitz's way of thinking.

"It's strange for me to say this," he recently told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, "but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq. I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, eight million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world. The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing."

I FORGOT!!! - Give the Liberals THIS Finger

With all the education and social security blogging, I plum forgot to GLOAT over the turn out (and the courage it represents) in the Iraqi elecitons.

BUSH LED! TYRANNY FLED!

BUSH EMOTED! IRAQIS VOTED

BUSH WAS "SELECTED"! IRAQIS ELECTED (take that, liberal wieners!)

BUSH WON, SADDAM'S DONE

Post your own below...

Here is the FINGER to send to all your anti-war friends. WOO-HOO!!