Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to I'm not sure that the example you list...

Key word: "constitutional."
Tom Brosz — (archived)

A democracy has to have underpinnings in individual rights, or it's just two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner.

Simply shoving a totalitarian nation to the voting booths is not, by itself, a solution. It's the beginning of the solution, and maybe an essential one to get people thinking for themselves again.

But admit it: If Saddam had been on the first Iraq ballots, what might have happened? Iraq is on the right track, having set up an early constitution designed to protect factions from each other and protect women and minorities, but this is a work in progress, and I don't think too many people would argue with me that some expected the elections to make everything settle down and get wonderful all by themselves.

Add to that my criteria that you can't declare a nation a democracy until it's had several elections under its belt, and the losers walk off the stage gracefully instead of declaring the election void and the parliament dissolved.

As for Japan, most of our successful war outcomes have come from utterly defeating and ruining an enemy country first. We're trying to fight a Kinder and Gentler war now, and while I don't think we have a choice any more, and the verdict is still out on whether it will work, it's going to take more time. When someone points out that this war has lasted longer than WWII, I point out that if we were firebombing and nuking our enemies, or dealing with occupied villages like Patton would have, this war would have been pretty short, too.

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