Don't Let Democracy Slip Through Their Fingers

No democracy has ever survived for long if its people didn't rise up and demand it, which is where the failure occurred in Iraq. We went in there and gave them democracy when they, themselves, weren't demanding it and fighting for it.

However, many nations of the middle East are now fighting for democracy. Libya, Yemeni, Bahrain, and other locations have people fighting, and dying, in their streets wanting freedom and an end to totalitarian regimes.

And we, the shining light of democracy, sit and do next to nothing.

We should be flying overhead and dropping food, weapons, and pamphlets to the embattled people fighting for a change in government and for their lives. We should be offering to send in people to train them in guerrilla warfare and how to set up and maintain a democratic government. We should be poised to swoop in with advisers who can help them transition to a free-market economy.

Yet, we sit and do next to nothing.

Bush forced democracy on people who were not yet willing to fight for it themselves, and the results have been disastrous. Well after Bush proclaimed "Victory!" our troops are still there, are still fighting local insurgents who want a return to past ways, and trying to teach people how to govern using a democratic principle. (Rights for women? We're not too sure about that!)

If you don't remember the past, you are doomed to repeat it, or so the saying goes. And in every case of a successful, lasting democracy, it came about because the people wanted it and fought for it. Often, the people had help to overthrow the government in power, and much more help setting up their new form of government. But the people wanted it, struggled for it, and achieved it.

It is much like your children. Those children who are given everything they want tend to be spoiled brats who cannot handle life's adversities. But those children who save their allowance, learn the value of hard work, and strive to succeed often are the most grateful and protective of what they earn and what they buy with that money. So it is with people in general and a democracy in particular.

Democracy is HARD. It is, most likely, the most difficult form of government to run and to do right. A democracy gives everyone, even those who you despise and don't want to listen to, a voice in the government. It means that the minority has rights and privileges that the majority can not and should not infringe. America is living proof of that right now: the right and the left are screaming at one another and trying their damnedest to ignore and push around the other. Both sides are out and out lying about the policies, procedures, and intents of the other. These squabbles are straining the democratic ideal to its breaking point. And a new revolution of cooler heads and moderate voices may be needed to keep America strong and prosperous. It isn't easy at all to run a democracy at all!

When the people rise up and demand democracy and change, successful democratic governments have to step up and help them. Show them the way and help them fight for the freedoms that those in their own nations once stood up and were counted for.

Yet, we sit and do next to nothing. The moment in history for that region has finally come, the one that Reagan spoke about, that the first President Bush longed for, that Clinton tried to cajole with foreign policy and embargoes, and which the second President Bush tried to force has finally come to that region, and America stands back and watches from afar.

I'm not saying that we should send our forces in and fight for the peoples of these nations, but we should be ready to help those people when asked and with whatever they need short of troops to do their fighting for them. They have to want it and they have to earn it, but we should, like proud parents teaching them the value of a dollar and how to buy their own toys, be prepared to help, encourage, and support them in whatever way they need.