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RIGHT IS MIGHT
By Geoff Metcalf
March 7, 2005
NewsWithViews.com
"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in time of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.'' -- Dante, 'The Inferno'
Planting the seeds of representative government and democracy in the Middle East, as a matter of POLICY, was viewed by critics as overreaching and too lofty a goal to suffer the realities of geopolitical diplomacy.
Some still argue that the 'Bush Doctrine' is too grand a goal (unrealistic and unattainable) despite the growing abundance of data that the concept of freedom and liberty is (as hoped by Bush and as feared by Mideast dictators) contagious.
Frederick Douglas once noted, "The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." He preceded that by observing, "Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both�"
The "injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them" in the Mideast has reached that resistance point�and it is sooner than President Bush would have dared hoped for and sooner than the Mideast oppressors had feared.
Charles Krauthammer recently observed, "Revolutions do not stand still. They either move forward or they die. We are at the dawn of a glorious, delicate, revolutionary moment in the Middle East. It was triggered by the invasion of Iraq, the overthrow of Saddam, and televised images of 8 million Iraqis voting in a free multiparty election. Which led to the obvious question throughout the Middle East: Why Iraqis and not us?"
President Bush, in his inaugural address, said:
- "We are led, by events and common sense, to
one conclusion: The survival of liberty
in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other
lands,"
- "The best hope for peace in our world is the
expansion of freedom in all the world."
- He articulated the sweeping pledge to spread
liberty and freedom "to the darkest corners of the world."
- "Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill and would be dishonorable to abandon,"
He was accused of being "over the top"�words like "hyperbolic", "excessive", "unrealistic" and worse were used to describe an American policy that would be based on principles that were not subject to compromise.
The inaccurately called 'insurgency' in Iraq has really and largely consisted of elements not indigenous to Iraq attempting to muck things up in an effort to stop the contagion of freedom. And despite the deaths and violence�it has failed.
Inertia is doing what no Foggy Bottom bureaucrat could ever hope to achieve through compromise or appeasement.
Despite the reluctance (malfeasance) of the mainstream media to adequately acknowledge facts in evidence, inertia is taking over�there is momentum to freedom's march:
- Elections in Afghanistan
- Elections in Iraq
- Palestinian elections yielding a for real reform
focused leadership
- A diminutive but significant Palestinian parliament
uprising
- Pro democracy demonstrations in Egypt resulting
in a Mubarak promise of contested presidential elections.
- The assassination of Rafiq Hariri in Lebanon
sparked the Cedar Revolution and the resignation of Syria's symbiots.
- Although not Mideastern, don't forget the former Soviet Georgia and Ukraine.
Walid Jumblatt is the leader of the Lebanese intifada. He is the patriarch of the Druze Muslim community. Even he seems to have had an epiphany. "It's strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq," he explains. "I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, 8 million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world."
Jumblatt claims this spark of democratic revolt is spreading. "The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it."
The sea change from totalitarianism to representative government is palpable�it is real.
Benjamin Franklin once said, "A nation of well informed men, who have been taught to know and prize the rights that God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins!" In other words, "Knowledge is Power!"
Once upon a time, tyranny was able to treat the people like mushrooms (keep them in the dark and feed them horse do-do). The old information vacuum of tyrants and dictators has been filled with satellite broadcasting and the Internet.
The seeds of freedom and representative government have been planted in the Mideast, and the roots are taking hold.
A dear personal friend, writing to a solider in Iraq reminded him, "Remember that the lotus grows in mud, and of necessity, thrives upon it. Yet the flower is always spotless, white and fragrant.
� 2005 Geoff Metcalf - All Rights Reserved
"Geoff Metcalf is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host for TALK AMERICA and a veteran media performer. He has had an eclectic professional background covering a wide spectrum of radio, television, magazine, and newspapers. A former Green Beret and retired Army officer he is in great demand as a speaker. Visit Geoff's Web Site: www.geoffmetcalf.com. While you're at it - pick up a copy of Geoff's latest book! E-mail: geoff@geoffmetcalf.com
Will Rogers once said, "This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer."
