The War on Democracy

[JBeukema]

The War On Democracy by John Pilger

 

[waltky]

Wind of democracy blowin' across the Arab world...

Demonstrations Intensify in Several Arab Countries
March 13, 2011 - Unrest is marking the beginning of another week in some Arab countries, with several governments trying to disperse protesters.

An angry crowd of protesters in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, refused to give up a strategic highway they were blocking, after riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse them. Thousands of Shi’ite demonstrators continue to paralyze the capital’s key financial district. Another group of protesters at Bahrain’s Pearl Roundabout also refused to budge after police tried to clear them out, using force. The demonstrators began blocking the roundabout in mid-February. Shi’ites, which make up 70 percent of Bahrain’s population, are demanding more political power from Bahrain's Sunni monarchy. Yemeni security forces also fired tear gas and live ammunition for a second day in a bid to force students to vacate a protest camp near Sana'a University. Eyewitnesses say police and pro-government supporters also used wooden clubs and knives to attack the protesters. Dozens of casualties were reported.

Al-Jazeera TV reported that protesters in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden attacked and set fire to a police station for the second time in 48 hours. Al-Arabiya TV reported anti-government protesters also clashed with police in the city of Taiz, north of Aden, injuring several. Yemeni protesters across the country have been demonstrating since mid-February, amid calls for the resignation of veteran President Ali Abdallah Saleh, who has offered sweeping concessions to the protesters. In Lebanon, tens of thousands of supporters of the anti-Syrian March 14th coalition turned out in Beirut’s Martyr’s Square to commemorate the 2005 Cedar Revolution that forced Damascus to withdraw its troops from the country.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who recently lost a no-confidence vote to the pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its allies, urged that the Shi’ite militia of Hezbollah be disarmed. He says that he is calling for a state in which only the government is armed and a state that has only one army, rather than a state that has armies outside the army, states outside the state, and people who are outside the law who use their arms against the people. Meanwhile, in Oman, the country’s ruler, Sultan Qaboos, issued a decree offering major powers for the first time to individuals outside the royal family. The decision follows several weeks of scattered, ongoing protests that have shaken the normally stable Gulf sultanate.

Source

 

[Brutus]

Should we want crazy Arabs to have a Democracy? Our Founders were largely against democracy or mob rule. That is why they gave us a republic with a little democracy thrown in to pacify the mob.

 

[Montesquieu]

Wind of democracy blowin' across the Arab world...

Don't be convinced of that.

They'll say what they want to get your support, and your arms. But after that we can only hope for moderate dictatorships (sometimes pursued under the auspice of religious dogma).

That's the best we're gonna get.

 

[CoolBreeze]

The idiots living in the Middle East will never liv under a freely elected country. They, like Mexico have lived with corrupt ogverments for so long that there is no help for them.

 

[whitehall]

Are the riots in the Mid-East an example of democracy or anarchy? Where have the Arabs been while the rest of the world was evolving? Is it possible that Sharia law has kept the Arab world living in camel dung while Christian and Jewish societies have been advancing?

 

[Truthseeker420]

Are the riots in the Mid-East an example of democracy or anarchy? Where have the Arabs been while the rest of the world was evolving? Is it possible that Sharia law has kept the Arab world living in camel dung while Christian and Jewish societies have been advancing?

I would say the discovery of oil has kept the Middle East from evolving. An educated Middle East is a lot harder to steal oil.

 

[Liberty]

Democracy sucks. The founders hated democracy. We are not a democracy. Democracy is not mentioned anywhere in any founding document.

Constitutional Republic is where it's at.

Tyranny of the Majority sucks.

Democracy should die in a corner.

 

[Brutus]

Democracy sucks. The founders hated democracy. We are not a democracy. Democracy is not mentioned anywhere in any founding document.

Constitutional Republic is where it's at.

Tyranny of the Majority sucks.

Democracy should die in a corner.

well, our democracy could be improved with

1) voter education testing

2) and not allowing those on the dole to vote.

 

[Toronado3800]

Should we want crazy Arabs to have a Democracy? Our Founders were largely against democracy or mob rule. That is why they gave us a republic with a little democracy thrown in to pacify the mob.

Strive for consistancy buddy.

Democracy like u once said w/o a good bill of rights is pretty dangerous. Especially in places where 90% of the population can gang up on the minorities. Heck, we saw it here.

Gotta let the poor vote also. Otherwise you will have a socialist revolution.

What is sweeping the arab world? I dunno. We should probably try to nudge them towards a modern form of government.

Why the change now? Internet perhaps? It has been sixty years since most of their lines were drawn in the middle east but north africa has been the same forever...

 

[Liberty]

you know the bill of rights wouldn't have been put into the constitution unless the anti-federalists (the original states rights whackos) pushed for it? Funny how libs bite the hand that feeds them, historically.