Years later, Bush’s dreams become reality

In a 2003 speech at London's Banqueting House, President George W. Bush stated that "by advancing freedom in the greater Middle East, we help end a cycle of dictatorship and radicalism that brings millions of people to misery and brings danger to our own people. If the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation and anger and violence for export."

Bush's remarks, which ironically were delivered at the same venue where King Charles I had been executed for abandoning democracy, articulated his post-Sept. 11 strategy to combat Islamic-terrorism with liberal democracy.  In his view, the West's 20th century Middle Eastern policy, which ignored autocracy in the name of stability, was a failure.  To millions of people who lived in tyranny, the lack of political freedom led them to violent radicalization, allowing organizations like al-Qaeda to prosper. 

Bush's solution was to combat radicalization with the spread of freedom and democracy.  As he proclaimed in his second inaugural, "the survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom." 

His strategy was grounded in the "democratic peace theory," which holds that in democracies, citizens have personal freedoms, influence in government, and respect for human rights, leading them to reject extremism.  Likewise, liberal societies are accustomed to negotiations and compromises, as opposed to violent suppression, which further discourages violence.  President Bill Clinton declared, "the best strategy to ensure our security and to build a durable peace is to support the advance of democracy elsewhere.  Democracies don't attack each other."  In fact, never in history have two democracies ever gone to war with each other. 

Bush's confidence in liberal democracy was vigorously attacked by experts and pundits on the left, and even some on the right.  To them, this belief was incongruent with their long-held faith in Arab Exceptionalism, the notion that the Arab world was incompatible with democracy and modernity.  Consequently, many opposed the decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Initially, it appeared that Bush's critics may have been right.  Following the liberation, the lack of sufficient troops allowed al-Qaeda to infiltrate Iraq and fuel sectarian violence that resulted in bloodshed.  Many, including Barack Obama, declared Iraq a lost cause and advocated an immediate withdrawal of troops.

Yet, Bush never wavered from his belief that every person desires to be free.  In spite of growing public disapproval, Bush refused to pull out of Iraq and instead, implemented "the Surge," which decimated al-Qaeda and drastically reduced sectarian violence.  The security situation significantly improved and what followed is truly dramatic. 

In the March 2010 elections, voter turnout was 62percent, and even in the province of Anbar, home of some of the worst post-liberation violence, turnout was 61percent.  In comparison, the 2008 U.S. presidential election only had 56 percent turnout.  Even Joe Biden declared victory with the emergence of democracy in Iraq.

As people across the world began to see Iraqis voting in defiance of violence and celebrating in the streets with their purple thumbs, many began to ask the inevitable question, "why not us? "

 In 2005, thousands of Lebanese citizens took to the streets to demand an end to Syrian occupation.  Within months, Syrian troops evacuated and ended nearly 30 years of occupation.  Last December, Tunisians demanding political freedom and democratic elections took to the streets.  Just weeks later, their President of nearly 24 years was ousted.  The protests famously spread to neighboring Egypt, where days later, Hosni Mubarek, President for almost 30 years, was forced to cede power.  Now it appears that time is running out for Libya's leader of 40 years, Moammar Gaddafi and uprisings are happening in Algeria, Yemen, Iran, and Jordan.  Freedom is unimpeachably on the march. 

Recently, Spiegel, a German magazine, wrote "painful as it may be to admit, it was the despised [Bush] who believed in the democratization of the Muslim world".  The Economist went further stating, "America is now remarkably well placed to win the war of ideas" in the Middle East. As democracy sweeps through the region, Bush's dream is becoming reality. 

Jay Manchi

A&S '11