Three Squares

Last updated on: December 15, 2005 at 10:07 am by Fred Clark

5 Comments

Three Squares 2005-12-15T10:07:55-05:00 Fred Clark

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Anderson Cooper of CNN is reporting from Baghdad today on the Iraqi elections. These elections are a Good Thing. Depending on the outcome, and on the longer-term outcome, they may even prove to be a Very Good Thing.

Cooper noted that the elections were made possible by the American-led invasion of Iraq. This is true.

But Cooper went further. He also said that such elections "would not have been possible" without the American-led invasion. This is not true.

Many countries have made the transition from authoritarian rule to democratic elections without assistance from an invading army. Consider, for example, the transition that took place 16 years ago in Czechoslovakia. American Marines did not invade Prague and tear down a statue of Ladislav Adamec in Wenceslas Square. There was no room for American tanks in Wenceslas Square — it was filled with Czech students, artists, actors and citizens from all walks of life, hundreds of thousands of them. Their Velvet Revolution — like the many other democratic revolutions that occurred that same year — occurred without the assistance of a superpower's invasion and occupation.

Part of the argument that such an invasion was necessary in the case of Saddam Hussein's Iraq rests on the idea that Saddam was "worse" than Eastern European leaders like Adamec. I don't think this proves what proponents of the invasion think it proves, but I will concede the point: Life in Baghdad in 1988 was worse than life in Prague in 1988.

Few people would disagree with that last sentence today, but before 1989 it would have been denounced as heresy. During the Cold War, American policy was shaped by the idea that the Soviet Union and its allies were the Worst of the Worst. That's why, back in 1988, America was arming people like Saddam Hussein. His secular Arab tyranny was regarded as a lesser evil than the USSR.

The same rationale explains another American policy of the 1980s: support for radical mujahedin fighters in Afghanistan. Those fighters were opposing the Soviet Army, so they received American assistance. That assistance included the training of a young Osama bin Laden, who was supplied not only with arms but with a database of other mujahedin. Nowadays that database — the database — is better known by its Arab name.

The Soviet retreat from Afghanistan came about because of American support for those mujahedin. One could even argue that this Soviet retreat "would not have been possible" without such American support. One could go even further and argue, because that defeat helped lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union, that victory in the Cold War "would not have been possible" without the creation of al-Qaida. This is not an argument that I would make. That particular sequence of events may be how things came about, but that does not mean that this was the only way these things could have come about.

I would argue, instead, that the authoritarian rule of the former Soviet Empire was built on a lie, and so it was already doomed regardless of the outcome of its Afghan adventure. The collapse of that empire was a Very Good Thing but, with the benefit of hindsight, we can argue that it "would have been possible" without helping to turn Osama bin Laden into a deadly monster.

So too there were other methods, other strategies that could have been taken toward Iraq. Today's elections could have been possible even without the otherwise disastrous American-led invasion. Wenceslas Square is a far better model than Firdos Square for the transition from authoritarian rule to democratic elections.

The objection to this is to argue that Saddam Hussein's rule was somehow invulnerable in a way that the authoritarian regimes of Czechoslovakia, Romania, Albania, East Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia and the Philippines were not. After all, the people of Iraq had risen up and tried to overthrow him after the first Gulf War only to be brutally suppressed.

This argument is based on a misreading of the facts. While Saddam Hussein remained a cruel tyrant, his grip on power was seriously, irreparably weakened by a decade of sanctions and regular, frequent air strikes. His reign was so precarious that he was almost toppled accidentally during four days of missile attacks in 1998's Operation Desert Fox. But even without such factual objections, the assertion that Saddam was impervious to "people power" does not mean that the transition to democracy "would not have been possible" without invasion and occupation.

Consider another example from 16 years ago. Six months before the Velvet Revolution in Wenceslas Square hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters had gathered in another square halfway around the world. China's authoritarian regime had refused to listen to those protesters' demands and the Chinese movement for democracy was crushed beneath their tanks in Tianenmen Square.

Unlike Saddam's increasingly shaky regime, China's ruling party is in fact maintaining a firm grip on power. It's interesting, though, that we don't hear anyone advocating invasion as the best or wisest path toward the democratization of China. This remains a long-term goal, but it is a goal we're pursuing through other means. We believe, in other words, that the transition to democracy in China will be possible without an American-led invasion and occupation of that country.

Invasion and occupation is not the only way to bring democracy to people suffering under tyrants. Nor is it the best, the wisest or the most effective way of doing so.

Admittedly, it does occasionally work. The U.S. military was instrumental in bringing about Haiti's first democratically elected president in decades.

Those voting today in Iraq might want to note, however, that a few years later that same elected president was kidnapped and deported by that same U.S. military. But that's another story …

Update: Bulbul reminds us, in comments, that the throngs in Wenceslas Square included not only Czechs but also Slovaks. My bad. Also, the statue-toppling reference would have been more apt if it'd been Milos Jakes instead of Adamec. I'll defer to bulbul on such matters.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

December 15, 2005

Suffering Fools

Next Post

December 15, 2005 This is not a blog post

Recent Comments

5 Comments | Leave a Comment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category class warfare evangelicals Iraq Left Behind Mammon music Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet was sent to Nineveh to preach repentance?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Joel Daniel Amos Jonah