Posted 3/31/2003 10:59:00 AM by Ocean Guy
It is precisely this Gap between the West and the Middle East that is going to make bringing democracy to Iraq so difficult. To do it right will take at least a generation. Do we have the resolve to do it right? If not let them say so now, and make ridding the region of Saddam the only goal.

I would like to see much more effort by the administration to address the post-victory plan. Their weak assurance that the Israeli-Arab situation will be resolved next is little comfort. When boiled down to its essentials, the real problem is that Western and Middle Eastern cultures are vastly different. We will find it extremely difficult to instill [impose] our democratic values on any part of the region. I wish the administration would do more to prepare us for the difficulty ahead.