A Fundamental Misapprehension

Natan Sharansky wrote The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror wherein he and coauthor Ron Dermer contend that democracies do not make war on each other. The book suggested peace would come to the Middle East as tyrants were replaced by democracy. Despots have indeed fallen since the publication of the book, but democracy did not replace tyranny. Sharansky did not take into account that if Wahhab fanatics were given the vote that they would elect leaders who strictly enforce Sharia which is absolutely incompatible with pluralistic, tolerant democracy. Under the new (dis)order gripping the Arab world, there is no possibility of advancing peace. While Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi were evil to the core, they at least kept Sunni fanatics from wantonly slaughtering those who believed differently. Now, Wahhab madmen murder wantonly where these dictators before kept some degree of order. There would have to be a reformation of Islam for Sharansky's notions to become practical. An Islamic version of George Washington would have to arise. Neither of these events is on the horizon.