Fred Kaplan: Philadelphia 1787 vs. Baghdad 2005
When things go particularly badly in Iraq—anarchy, insurgency, and now the delays in crafting a constitution—President George W. Bush and his top aides point reassuringly to the turbulence surrounding our own Founding Fathers' exertions to forge a republic.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld first sought solace in history back in March 2003, only weeks after Saddam Hussein was toppled. America in the 1780s, he noted, was marked by "chaos and confusion … crime and looting … popular discontent." "Our first effort at a governing charter—the Articles of Confederation—failed miserably," he added, "and it took eight years of contentious debate before we finally adopted our constitution and inaugurated our first president."
President Bush picked up on the theme, in nearly identical terms, in a speech just last May: "The American Revolution was followed by years of chaos. … Our first effort at a governing charter, the Articles of Confederation, failed miserably. It took several years before we finally adopted our Constitution and inaugurated our first President. … No nation in history has made the transition from tyranny to a free society without setbacks and false starts."
In other words, so this argument goes, the United States of America took 11 years to go from the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution; therefore, don't be surprised that Iraq is still writhing a mere two years after the fall of Saddam—or that the delegates to its constitutional convention are experiencing difficulties.
There's something to this, of course, but why does Bush keep bringing it up? Far from easing our concerns about Iraq (ah, well, this is just how things go in the transition to democracy), comparing its plight with that of late 18th-century America—and likening the roundtable in Baghdad's Green Zone to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia—should only intensify the hackles and horrors.
The real inference to be drawn is that the American colonies were as well-fit for a democratic union as any society in human history—and they took more than a decade to get their act together. Today's Iraq enjoys almost none of their advantages, so how long will it take to move down the same path—and how long will we have to stay there to help?...
Read entire article at Slate
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld first sought solace in history back in March 2003, only weeks after Saddam Hussein was toppled. America in the 1780s, he noted, was marked by "chaos and confusion … crime and looting … popular discontent." "Our first effort at a governing charter—the Articles of Confederation—failed miserably," he added, "and it took eight years of contentious debate before we finally adopted our constitution and inaugurated our first president."
President Bush picked up on the theme, in nearly identical terms, in a speech just last May: "The American Revolution was followed by years of chaos. … Our first effort at a governing charter, the Articles of Confederation, failed miserably. It took several years before we finally adopted our Constitution and inaugurated our first President. … No nation in history has made the transition from tyranny to a free society without setbacks and false starts."
In other words, so this argument goes, the United States of America took 11 years to go from the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution; therefore, don't be surprised that Iraq is still writhing a mere two years after the fall of Saddam—or that the delegates to its constitutional convention are experiencing difficulties.
There's something to this, of course, but why does Bush keep bringing it up? Far from easing our concerns about Iraq (ah, well, this is just how things go in the transition to democracy), comparing its plight with that of late 18th-century America—and likening the roundtable in Baghdad's Green Zone to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia—should only intensify the hackles and horrors.
The real inference to be drawn is that the American colonies were as well-fit for a democratic union as any society in human history—and they took more than a decade to get their act together. Today's Iraq enjoys almost none of their advantages, so how long will it take to move down the same path—and how long will we have to stay there to help?...