Abracadabra Democracy

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Abracadabra Democracy

By: Slater Bakhtavar

2006/04/19



We as Americans possess an ingrained cultural impatience that is a source of

both our greatness and many of our ills.  The latter example is how this

impatience is unfortunately commanding our view of democracy’s prospects in

Iraq . Our antsy outlook is unfortunate, as history has proven that the

evolution of modern democracies require patience and perseverance.  After

the devastation of World War II it took Germany and Japan many years to

evolve into modern democracies with powerhouse economies. As late as ten

years after the establishment of a democratic government in Germany Sigmund

Neumann wrote “National socialism may be dead. … yet democracy has failed to

fill the spiritual vacuum.”  Still, historical realists knew that the

evolution of a modern democratic nation required endurance and long term

sacrifice.  They also knew that every nation will have an independent form

of democratic government different from the Republic of the United States .



It’s true that the situation in Iraq isn’t perfect, but it’s also not a

miserable failure on the brink of civil war.  The prospect of a civil war is

not implausible, but it’s certainly not imminent.  Under the worst

circumstances even if a civil war were to transpire it would be a part of

the evolutionary process that would have to be resolved by the Iraqis.  We

shouldn’t forget that it cost our own nation over six hundred thousand lives

and a multitude of other struggles to consummate our modern democratic

Republic. Yet many expect a country formed in the 1920’s and ruled by

uncivilized dictators to form a modern democratic government without flaw or

struggle.



Part of the problem is the mainstream media. With their daily buffet of

negative reporting dramatizing every single suicide bombing, parliamentary

infighting, and infrastructural shortcoming they’ve managed to portray the

Iraq war as a miserable failure. The mainstream media as a general rule

reports negative news or otherwise “shock news” to gain higher ratings.

Unfortunately, this negative reporting leads to an unfair balance between

reality and fantasy with the latter prevailing. This form of shock reporting

begets a naive public that will support unwise policies at the ballot boxes

and in public opinion. The truth is that there are many positive things

happening in Iraq , but unfortunately in order to receive this information

the general public has to seek out blogs like Good News in Iraq and news

forums like FreeRepublic.



According to a blog called Good News from Front Ambassador Daniel Speckhard,

U.S. Director of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, recently spoke

of the economic progress in Iraq .



“ Iraq 's per capita income had fallen from around $4,200 per person in 1980,

which at the time was higher than Spain , to $500 per person in March 2003,

he said. Today it stands at $1,200 - ‘a significant advancement in a very

short time,’ Speckhard said. “Speckhard pointed out that Iraq now has a free

press, more than 2,000 Internet cafes, and more than 5 million cell phone

users - up from virtually zero in 2003. All of these things help connect

Iraq to the outside world ‘in ways that it never was before, providing

freedom and opportunities for Iraqi citizens,’ he said. “In addition, more

than 30,000 Iraqi businesses have been registered in the past year alone, he

said.



Besides the above mentioned progress, forty seven countries have established

embassies in Iraq .  Three thousand one hundred schools have been renovated,

three hundred sixty three schools are now being built, fifty-five thousand

Iraqi Police have been fully trained, seventy five radio stations have been

established, and finally one hundred eighty newspapers and ten independent

television stations have evolved.  All of this progress shows with force

that modern democracy is inevitable in Iraq .



Antagonists may claim that the ongoing insurgency points to the contrary.

While it does indicate the deep cleavage between Iraqi religious, cultural,

and ethnic groups, as well as interference by foreign terrorists, by no

means does it mean the failure of a modern democracy in the Middle Eastern

nation. The terrorists have failed to disrupt democratic procedures, thereby

marginalizing themselves as a futile effort against the landscape of

progressive modernization. Establishing modern democracy in Iraq will take

time and perseverance, but in the end economic, social and political

progress in Iraq will stamp the achievements of democracy, offering every

Iraqi citizen a peaceful and prosperous future.  That’s the magic of

patience and the axiom that there is nothing abracadabra about building a

proud modern democratic nation.