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Some good reason
January 30, 2005 ( politics )
Austin's Louis Black has some words of reason for everyone:
Those of us who opposed the invasion did not support Saddam Hussein or oppose democracy. Those who did are willing to say anything to obfuscate the issue. These semantic betrayals by the warmongers can trip up almost any argument or make black seem white, but they can't drown the truth forever. Those of us who believe in democracy and believe in the desirability and inevitability of all governments to embrace democracy and become some form of constitutional republic know this can't be done at the end of a gun. It can't be done quickly, nor can it be accomplished with military invasions and bombing raids.We've seen the peaceful electoral revolution in Ukraine, and though nervous about the long run, we saw the huge voter turnout in Afghanistan. We saw the Palestinian elections, and we have to hope that those in Iraq go better than almost anyone expects (no matter what they may be saying publicly). Many have worked for free and fair elections in countries around the world for much of their lives.
There is something else we know. The anti-war protests in democracies throughout the world encouraged freedom.
It was not the invasion of Iraq that inspired the Ukrainian people to take to the streets; it was all those protests against that war. The world did watch. They watched as protesters marched. They watched as protesters were not attacked by the police, as they were not imprisoned or killed. By the hundreds of thousands, they made their voices heard, their opinions known. They watched people who got up in the morning, spent a day at a protest, and went home – not to hide or wait in fear, but to resume their ordinary lives.
Posted by griffjon at January 30, 2005 07:18 PM
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