what is more important to iraq and iraqis as they look toward their future: liberty or democracy? one doesn’t automatically equal the other. while it’s true that democracy is generally preferable to other systems of government, it may not produce desired results in other areas. it may not produce the free society that we all want for the iraqis. in his attempt to simplify the message, president bush has distorted it. you can have liberty without democracy, but you won’t always have both.
maybe we should shift our focus from one to the other. we have elections there, and that’s great, but without removing the restrictions on individual rights, will the iraqis notice much of a change? their new constitution suggests that there will be more freedoms for the iraqi people. we shall see how well that constitution is enforced.
If I were an Iraqi I would love to have both liberty and democracy. What I would not like is foreign occupation of my country.