by Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n
PJ Media<\/em><\/p>\n My Three-week Victory, Your Seven-year Mess<\/strong><\/p>\n It is difficult trying to figure out what the left\u2019s position is on democracy and the Middle East. Here\u2019s a brief effort.<\/p>\n Once upon a time, a number of prominent liberals \u2014 among them Thomas Friedman, Fareed Zakaria, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid \u2014 thought it was a good idea to remove Saddam Hussein and supplant his Baathist rule with democracy. I say that with confidence since one can watch the speeches of the senators in question on YouTube debating the 23-writ authorizations to use force in October 2002, in addition to reading the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0andNewsweek<\/em>\u00a0editorials between 2002-3 of prominent liberal columnists.\u00a0The New Republic<\/em>\u00a0stable of authors was particularly in favor of the Bush-Cheney \u201cjust war\u201d to invade Iraq. Jonathan Chait (who would go on to author an infamous essay about why \u201cI hate George Bush\u201d) and Peter Beinhart were especially hard on the fellow left for not joining the Bush effort.<\/p>\n By early 2004, almost all that liberal support had entirely dissipated, predicated on two developments. First, a presidential election was just months away and Bush\u2019s war was no longer \u201cmission accomplished\u201d but turning into a campaign liability. Second, a resistance had formed under hardcore Islamists that was beginning to take a heavy toll on American forces. No WMD had been found, and it was now easy to suggest that one could withdraw support for building democracy in Iraq because two of the 23 writs for going to war were no longer operative, the effort was probably lost, and George W. Bush might well deservedly not be reelected.<\/p>\n No matter. Bush pressed on. His polls sunk yet he was barely reelected. His ongoing \u201cdemocracy\u201d agenda got little support from those who once had enthusiastically praised the Iraqi adventure and had proclaimed their belief in universal human rights. Few came to Secretary of State Rice\u2019s support when in 2005 she chastised Hosni Mubarak\u2019s regime to grant fundamental rights. Fewer saw any connection between Saddam\u2019s fate and America\u2019s pro-democratic stance and the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, the fright of Mr. Gaddafi who gave up his WMD arsenal, or the sudden willingness of Pakistan to harness Dr. Khan.<\/p>\n Instead, \u201cspreading democracy\u201d was seen by the left as a wounded George Bush\u2019s quirky tic. His talk about \u201cuniversal\u201d freedom was ridiculed more as a manifestation of a sort of evangelical Christianity than genuine political idealism. Bush\u2019s zeal for democracy, then, was orphaned: the right was now realist again (\u201cthey are either incapable of democracy or not worth the effort to implant it\u201d) and the left multicultural (\u201cwho are we of all people to say what sort of government others should employ?\u201d).<\/p>\n Then And Now<\/strong><\/p>\n Note especially that Barack Obama, both as senator and presidential candidate, derided the war, declared the surge as failed, and wanted all troops out of Iraq by March 2008, regardless of the effect on the struggling Maliki government. That Bush also confronted Putin over the putdown of Georgia, allowed a plebiscite in Gaza, and warned of the anti-democratic tendencies of a Chavez or Ahmadinejad was drowned out by Iraq. Remember that these were the days of Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore calling for a right-wing fundamentalist insurgent victory in Iraq, and novels and films envisioning the assassination of George Bush.<\/p>\n Fast forward to the presidency of Barack Obama. I think it is fair to suggest that all talk about promoting democracy was dropped entirely, and for three reasons: anything Bush had promoted was\u00a0de facto<\/em>\u00a0tainted (\u201creset\u201d); Obama\u2019s multiculturalism accepted that all indigenous governments were more authentic than an imported Western democracy (cf. his silence over the brutal putdown of the Iranian dissidents); Obama was busy courting China and Russia, two authoritarian and powerful governments that could complicate any pro-democracy pressure on lesser states.<\/p>\n Better to Be Enemies<\/strong><\/p>\n I note in passing once more that when it was a question of \u201ctilting,\u201d Obama usually seemed more fond of the anti-democratic than the democratic alternative: Syria and Iran were courted, Israel was snubbed; Colombia was ignored, Cuba and Venezuela got \u201coutreach\u201d; Eastern Europe was taken for granted, autocratic Russia was romanced. In short, whether because of Pavlovian anti-Bush tendencies, multicultural preference for authentic indigenous leadership, or wishing a stage for the postracial, postnational Obama to charm our enemies and achieve a \u201cbreakthrough,\u201d Obama cared little at all about promoting human rights (note that all Obama\u2019s once shrill civil rights bluster about Guantanamo, tribunals, renditions, preventative detention, the Patriot Act, Iraq, and drone attacks was dropped \u2014 on the cynical but correct premise that the left would still idolize a President Obama even if he parroted Dick Cheney).<\/p>\n Back to Egypt<\/strong><\/p>\n All of which brings us to Egypt. I think it would also be fair to say that the administration has been caught entirely surprised. Far from being a sort of national liberationist of the left, Obama is simply confused \u2014 his advisors now telling him that Mubarak must go, that he must go sometime, that the demonstrators are genuine democratic patriots, that they are dupes who will be pushed aside by the Muslim Brotherhood, which itself is either sinister or in fact reformed and a possible future US partner.<\/p>\n In turn, the president seems to voice the last advice he was given, and so we are to assume two things: one, his make \u201cno mistake about it\u201d declaration will change and soon be rendered obsolete as conditions on the ground in Egypt change; two, he will artfully inject himself into the breaking news by the overuse of the now accustomed \u201cI, my, mine\u201d as he is self-constructed to be the catalyst for all that is becoming good and a long harsh critic of all that is turning bad. In other words, Obama will talk far too much and seek to turn someone else\u2019s revolution into a showcase of his own rhetoric. And in adolescent fashion, Obama will reveal private conversations he has had with Egyptian leaders, both breaking confidentiality and portraying his interlocutors as either agreeing with his own advice or nodding to his dictates and directives.<\/p>\n What do I derive from all this? Hillary was right about her 3AM slur, and Obama is acting as any 2-year Senate veteran might in such a crisis. There is no consistent support from the left for democracy movements overseas. Strongmen like Gaddafi, Ahmadinejad, and Assad are weirdly seen as either untouchable or genuine in a way a Mubarak or a Jordanian king is not. And the latter are vulnerable only when it looks like they may fail; if they seem stable, we hear not a peep from Obama about their human rights records.<\/p>\n In short, the left has not yet sorted out its adherence to multiculturalism and its supposed support for human rights, which are usually antithetical. It apparently believes that any pro-democratic criticism of Obama\u2019s tepidness is not worth the damage that might accrue to his agenda of universal healthcare, more entitlements, and left-wing domestic appointments. Whereas on the right there are three fissures over Egypt \u2014 neocon support for the protestors, realist support for Mubarak to keep a lid on things and change slowly, isolationist desires to keep the hell out of another costly obligation \u2014 on the left these days it is basically trying to explain\u00a0post facto<\/em>\u00a0Obama\u2019s herky-jerky policies as coherent, successful, and idealist.<\/p>\n Predictions? I think unfortunately we may go the 1940s \u201cwe can work with Mao\u201d\/1970s \u201cno inordinate fear of communism\u201d\/2000s \u201cjihad can mean a personal struggle\u201d route, where liberals believe that totalitarian nationalists somehow admire the American Revolution and our lack of a colonial heritage, and, as closet moderates, wish to work with us. That translates into a backdoor courtship with the Muslim Brotherhood, in the fashion we did with Khomeini, and ends in a decade or so with a Sunni Ahmadinejad and the betrayal of the present protestors \u2014 again, in the manner we did the Iranian moderate reformers in 1979-80 and again in 2009.<\/p>\n How odd that in support of the brave secular protestors in the streets of Cairo, we are already talking about not demonizing the Muslim Brotherhood \u2014 the existential enemies of every idealist now trying to win a free society from Mubarak, the dictator\/non-dictator who must go now!, very soon, after he transitions a new government in the summer, when a new president is elected in the fall, or, as future events dictate, not at all.<\/p>\n \u00a92011 Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Victor Davis Hanson PJ Media My Three-week Victory, Your Seven-year Mess It is difficult trying to figure out what the left\u2019s position is on democracy and the Middle East. Here\u2019s a brief effort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[118],"tags":[12,51,1034,1040,420,527,1016,76],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-100","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6475,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/watching-the-middle-east-implode\/","url_meta":{"origin":3844,"position":0},"title":"Watching the Middle East Implode","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Only when we recognize the fundamental role Islam plays in the region can we begin to craft sensible policies that put U.S. interests first. by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/\u00a0Defining Ideas\u00a0 The revolutions against dictators in the Middle East dubbed the Arab Spring have degenerated into a complex, bloody m\u00e9lange of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4438,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/dont-stop-now-opening-pandoras-democratic-box\/","url_meta":{"origin":3844,"position":1},"title":"Don’t Stop Now: Opening Pandora’s Democratic Box","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 1, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online With the encouraging news of change in the air in Lebanon, Egypt, and the Gulf, coupled with a solidification of democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, there has arisen a new generation of doubters. Not all are simply gnashing their teeth that their prognostications\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "April 2005"","block_context":{"text":"April 2005","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2005\/april-2005\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4492,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/why-democracy\/","url_meta":{"origin":3844,"position":2},"title":"Why Democracy?","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 11, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Ten reasons to support democracy in the Middle East by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online Neoconservatives hope that a democratic Iraq and Afghanistan can usher in a new age of Middle Eastern consensual government that will cool down a century-old cauldron of hatred. Realists counter that democratic roots will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "February 2005"","block_context":{"text":"February 2005","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2005\/february-2005\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4176,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/why-not-support-democracy\/","url_meta":{"origin":3844,"position":3},"title":"Why Not Support Democracy?","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 23, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Our orphan policy in the Middle East. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online Why still no big-font, front-page headlines screaming, \u201cMillions Vote in Historic Middle East Election!\u201d or \u201cDemocracy Comes At Last To Iraq\u201d or \u201cAmerica\u2019s Push for Iraqi Democracy Working\u201d? 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These are the people who, like Senator Joe Lieberman, think that the \u201cArab Spring\u201d is all about people \u201cdemanding lives of democracy, dignity, economic opportunity, and involvement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Muslim Brotherhood"","block_context":{"text":"Muslim Brotherhood","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/muslim-brotherhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3897,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/messy-democracy-still-the-best-course\/","url_meta":{"origin":3844,"position":5},"title":"Messy Democracy Still the Best Course","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services The Palestinian prime minister, Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh, is shocked. He claims that without his government's knowledge, the until-now unknown terrorist group Holy Jihad Brigades kidnapped two Western journalists (who have since been released) in Gaza. 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