God and Man in Baghdad
Op-Ed Columnist: God and Man in Baghdad
Friedman's take here is a bit parallel to thoughts that run through Fareed Zakaria's book, The Future of Freedom. Essentially, that the process of moving toward democracy will be a messy one, that there will be some lurches here and there that might give us thought to reconsider whether the move is for the better or worse, and that patience, guidance, and virtue are necessities.
I'm not sure, as Friedman's conclusion hints at, that Iraq will ever find their Thomas Jefferson, but instead, I suspect they'll chart their own course that will require more squinting to see parallels to our own move towards democracy.
The points that warrant the most concern are the fact that Iraq has very little middle class and no independent political groups with any substantial credibility. That points to some continuation of the Iranian model of theological rule and the constant question of whether any Iraqi ruler will be closer to Khomeini or ... well ... someone else.