Several months ago, as the rate of attacks fell, the US felt confident enough to say that the Iraq insurgency was dying off. With daily attacks on the rise again, US personnel on the ground are now admitting that the insurgents are able to switch things on and off as they please.
Far from being a beacon of democracy for the entire region, Iraq has become a dangerous place where death and destruction have become common. When under pressure to democratise, Middle Eastern potentates can now say: ‘Is this what you want us to become?’
If the US was serious about spreading democracy, may be it should have started with some its friends, especially ones less divided on ethnic and sectarian lines. These would have had greater chance of becoming beacons of democracy, perhaps even spurring the populations of neighbouring countries to look at their own system of government.
As things stand present, Iraq is the very opposite of a beacon of democracy. Most people in neighbouring countries see it as an occupied country governed by a class of janissary politicians created by the occupiers to look after their strategic and corporate interests.
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