Jul 15, 2006

An Iraq-style Democacy

by Cliopatria

Here, care of CNN International is an exchange between George Bush and Vladimir Putin.

"I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world, like Iraq where there's a free press and free religion, and I told him that a lot of people in our country would hope that Russia would do the same," Bush said.
To that, Putin replied,"We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy that they have in Iraq, quite honestly."

I do not in any way want to suggest that I support Putin’s actions in making Russia an authoritarian state with democratic trappings. (In fact , here is a great, and therefore really depressing article on Putin’s rise and “accomplishments.”) However, can anyone out there think of a worse example that Bush could have used?

Here’s Putin, who, to put it kindly, errs on the side of order as opposed to freedom. And here’s Bush the salesman, trying to sell Putin on democracy. And what does he use as an example? A fledgling democracy wracked by daily violence on a grand scale that may well break down into its ethnic components.

I suppose Bush may have had a different audience in mind. But which one?

PS It just occurred to me: could Bush's comment have been a clever way of telling Putin and Russia to go to Hell?

More Comments:

Taylor Owen - 7/15/2006

It seems that this is what happens when 'democracy' becomes an absolute end in and of itself. If there are elections, then nothing else matters. Of course, this flawed principle is not even used consistantly - Palestinian and Lebanese elections not quite holding the same rhetorical weight as Iraqi votes for example.

Robert KC Johnson - 7/15/2006

I agree, too--that the comment was more of an example of Bush in a bubble than anything else. It's frightening.

Perhaps he can conclude the summit by saying he hopes Russia becomes a democracy just like Lebanon.

Howard L. Green - 7/15/2006

When I saw Bush commending Iraqi-style democracy to Putin, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry; and I'm not sure how to explain it. My guess is that it demonstrates how far out of touch the president's advisors keep him. On CNN, Bush seemed to really believe that it was wise to cite Iraq to Putin. I wonder if there were cameras on Bush's face as the audience of reporters sniggered when Putin rejoined that he did not think Iraq was a political model to which Russia should aspire.