Out of My Mind

We are successfully spreading democracy in the Middle East:

From the Wall Street Journal (sub reqd.):

When Syrian troops left Lebanon last year, the Bush administration saw a prime opportunity to de-fang a group one U.S. diplomat once called the "A-Team" of terror groups: Hezbollah, which receives major backing from Syria.

The end of Syria's nearly three-decade occupation was a watershed moment for President Bush's campaign to spread democracy in the Middle East as an antidote to violent Islamic movements. Millions of Lebanese celebrated the country's liberation. With an election approaching, Hezbollah was worried. "We felt danger," says Nawar Saheli, a political leader in the group.

It also has helped the group elude a big threat: international pressure, led by the U.S. and France, to disarm. Over the past year "Hezbollah built a big shield over its military wing," says Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a professor at the Lebanese American University.

How the militant group turned adversity to opportunity reveals a conundrum for the Bush administration: Rather than resisting Washington's democracy drive, some radical Islamic groups, including organizations the U.S. deems terrorist, are using it to promote their agendas.

The rest of it is here and see this too.

What I don't understand is why a nation like Syria is scared to adopt the American model or Iranian model of rigged elections: democracy and entrenched power: win-win for the established leadership.....