by Tina Grazier
Defeating the extreme groups that make up the enemy we call terrorism is a multi-faceted endeavor. Its important to notice small yet significant victories in our efforts because they arent always obvious, they arent always trumpeted and when they do make news, they are often presented in a negative light. Such has been the case with the recent elections in Pakistan. It’s been said that the election marked a solid defeat of the Bush Doctrine because Musharif failed in his bid for re-election. A closer look tells a different story.
Islam at the Ballot Box, by Amir Taheri Wall Street Journal
The latest analysis of the results shows that the parties linked, or at least sympathetic, to the Taliban and al Qaeda saw their share of the votes slashed to about 3% from almost 11% in the last general election a few years ago. The largest coalition of the Islamist parties, the United Assembly for Action (MMA), lost control of the Northwest Frontier Province — the only one of Pakistan’s four provinces it governed. The winner in the province is the avowedly secularist National Awami Party. ** Despite vast sums of money spent by the Islamic Republic in Tehran and wealthy Arabs from the Persian Gulf states, the MMA failed to achieve the “approaching victory” (fatah al-qarib) that Islamist candidates, both Shiite and Sunni, had boasted was coming. ** The Islamist defeat in Pakistani confirms a trend that’s been under way for years. Conventional wisdom had it that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the lack of progress in the Israel-Palestine conflict, would provide radical Islamists with a springboard from which to seize power through elections. ** Analysts in the West used that prospect to argue against the Bush Doctrine of spreading democracy in the Middle East. These analysts argued that Muslims were not ready for democracy, and that elections would only translate into victory for hard-line Islamists. ** The facts tell a different story.
This is NOT the time for CHANGE.
A radical change in our foreign policy at this time would amount to an abandonment of the people in the region who have come to count on American assistance as they work to build democracies. Withdrawal now would amount to stomping on the HOPE…that other current political buzz word… that’s been built over the last few years. They have just begun to trust American resolve. Shall we now kick them to the curbsorryso sorry apologies all around, but we prefer now to TALK and make deals with the axis of evil. NO WONDER people around the world have come to dislike Americawhen we change policies in radical ways through the process of our own elections we show we cannot be trusted…and we look like utter fools. Whether or not we completely agree with what Bush has done, we had better use caution in our dealings in the Middle East as we move forward. As Mr. Taheri concludes:
Far from rejecting democracy because it is supposed to be “alien,” or using it as a means of creating totalitarian Islamist systems, a majority of Muslims have repeatedly shown that they like elections, and would love to join the global mainstream of democratization. President Bush is right to emphasize the importance of holding free and fair elections in all Muslim majority countries. ** Tyrants fear free and fair elections, a fact illustrated by the Khomeinist regime’s efforts to fix the outcome of next month’s poll in Iran by pre-selecting the candidates. Support for democratic movements in the Muslim world remains the only credible strategy for winning the war against terror.
The choice we make this year will have effects that go way beyond bringing troops home. Read the article, its a good one. And
Please vote wisely in NovemberJohn McCain will provide a more seamless transition than either of the two alternative choices.