The Iraqis never understood the meaning of ‘democracy’ from the west’s perception. Most of us knew that. Too bad Bush didn’t…

Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:37pm ETWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has quietly retreated from its high-profile push for democracy in the Muslim world.
The Hamas election stunned the Bush administration by bringing a violent militant group to power.
U.S. policy-makers saw the Hamas victory in the Palestinian territories as part of a potentially dangerous trend following democratic gains for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The experience in Iraq, which U.S. officials once envisioned as the catalyst for democratic change in Arab countries, has emerged instead as a disturbing symbol of sectarian strife. Frankly, the administration has retreated even from a passive push for democracy. Washington is now largely silent about actions taken by Middle East regimes to suppress political opposition.
The United States faces a generational struggle in the Muslim world, where deep-seated suspicion about American motives is exacerbated by the repressive and corrupt practices of governments allied with Washington.
The credibility problem is complicated by Bush’s use of the democracy theme in speeches. Before the U.N. General Assembly, he portrayed the United States as a friend of freedom but cited autocratic regimes, including Saudi Arabia, as reformers.
“People in the region know about the Saudi government. They’re not naive,” said Thomas Carothers, head of the Democracy and Rule of Law Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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