Democracy vs. security.

• Author: Buchanan, Patrick J.
• Position: Reprint - Essay
• Pages: 61(3)

Which is more critical to the United States in the Islamic world--that a government be democratic, or that it be a friend and ally in the war against al-Qaida and Islamic extremism? In the Bush era, the answer has seemed unequivocal. We are for democracy first. For democracy is the best guarantee of our security interests. As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice famously said in 2005 at Cairo University:

"For 60 years, my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region here in the Middle East, and we achieved neither. Now, we are taking a different course. We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people." As the United States expelled the Soviet Union from the Middle East, brought peace between Egypt and Israel, and won the Cold War, Rice's statement was both false and full of hubris and condescension toward 11 US presidents, who, whatever their failings, put US interests above all else. Nevertheless, democracy first became declared Bush policy. Pursuing it, Bush and Rice demanded elections across the Middle East. What did they produce? Victories for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Moqtada al...