69 million page views

Beyond Technicality

Reader comment on item: After Saddam? Remaking the Mideast

Submitted by A H (United States), Feb 13, 2003 at 19:26

Al-Hajjaj Bin Yousuf Al-Thaqafi, Abdul Karim Kassem, and Saddam. Three big names in the history of Iraq. Torture, cruelty and totalitarianism are interwoven into the Iraqi culture. There is neither a history nor a culture of democracy in Iraq. The same applies to many Muslem and Arab countries. I think democracy starts with values and culture before claiming the right to vote or to run political campaigns. It will take at least one or two generations to comprehend what democracy and tolerance are in that part of the world. Although I share Professor Ajami his optimism, I am not expecting immediate results, even with heavy US involvement.
Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2023 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)