Given that we seem to be stuck in Iraq with absolutely no hope of escape for the next 15 months, perhaps we can turn our attention to the question of what, exactly, went wrong.
Let’s assume for a second that this war was adequately prepared for - that we had enough boots on the ground, that sufficient armoured vehicles were supplied to our troops, that we had a coalition of countries worthy of the name – hell, you can assume that there was no insurgency for all I care. Make any assumption you like, I contend that democracy was never a possibility in Iraq.
George Bush is proud of being president despite his less than stellar academic record at Yale. Had he been the "student of history" that he claims and been a bit more assiduous during his college years he might have learned the way democracy comes about. Although it seems a basic point to everyone but our Dear Leader at this point, it is NOT by the simple act of voting that a democracy is borne.
It seems apparent to me that Democracy is directly related to the existence of the Middle Class
It seems apparent to me that Democracy is directly realted to the existence of a Middle Class. It is the Middle Class that needs the rule of law. It is the middle class that craves stability. It is the Middle Class that needs protection from the oppression of the State. It is the Middle Class that sees promise in the future if only the present is maintained. In short, it is the Middle Class that willingly submits itself to a greater power in order to further its own interests.
Contrast the Middle Class with those in poverty. Those in poverty do not seek to butress the protective powers of the state – they have only known it to be an oppressive entity. They do not see promise in the future – upward mobility is often not part of their everyday conscious reality. They would just as soon hope for violent confrontation and the overthrow of government because, after all, they live in a system where they do not have much to lose.
Lest you think I am picking on those who cannot defend themselves, be assured I intend to be just as hard on those who can – and for that exact reason. The fact that the wealthy can defend themselves is exactly the reason that they are not the wellspring from which the respect for the law springs. After all, who deems the law a necessity when you can just afford to buy off your local politician? Who cares about the environment when you can simply move elsewhere or drink from unpolluted bottle sources? Who cares about Justice when you can erect a wall to avoid crime and use the power private militias to persecute those who dare take action against you?
It is the Middle Class who need the law and thus, the Middle Class that respects it – to remarkable effect. Since the signing of the Magna Carta in 1218, the Middle Class have demanded that the King give up his absolute authority, they have demanded respect for Court decisions and they have demanded liberty and security to their own property. In short, they have demanded the exact ingredients that a society needs in order to produce a democratic voting system - order and predictability.
All of which brings us back to the George who spends his time in an oval room (unpadded unfortunately). In disbanding the Iraqi army, instituting an Iraqi flat tax system, denying shopkeepers their livelihoods - in fact, in each and every decision the Bbush administration has made - the Middle Class was weakened. Put simply, Iraq has been a direct assault on the Iraqi Middle Class and accordingly, the Rule of Law and Democracy. The Middle no longer sees hope in the future, they no longer beleive the State will protect them and they no longer beleive in upward mobility. The Middle Class dream is dead and with it, the prospect of a democratic Iraq.
The Iraq war and Bush administration is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportion. But perhaps, just perhaps, if we can learn and respect its most elemental lesson – that a society’s Middle Class is the ultimate determinate of democracy and must be nourished – some good may still come of our collectively abhorrent actions these past 6 years.