Democracia no Oriente Médio

O opt-Ed do New York Times traz hj 3 artigos mostrando o ponto de vista do Islam na busca de soluções para o Oriente Médio. O professor visitante da Universidade Iowa, Reza Aslan, explica que não dá para eliminar a influência da religião na politica do Irã. O objetivo deveria ser criar algo parecido com o Estado de Israel, uma democracia religiosa e não a temida teocracia dos aiatolás.

If it can successfully fuse its democratic aspirations with its Islamic identity, then Iran, rather than Iraq, may be able to provide the template of democracy in the Middle East. At the very least, it can become the middle ground between the Islamic dictatorships of Egypt and Jordan, and the fundamentalist regimes of Saudi Arabia and the Taliban.

O príncipe da Jordânia Hassan bin Talal destaca os sucessos do reinado de Faisal I no Iraque durante a ocupação britãnica e critica a falta de atenção da coalizão para o passado ecumênico e cosmopolita do Iraque.

The people now in charge of Iraq, be they in Baghdad or Washington, seem to lack the cultural sensitivity and proper knowledge of Iraq and its neighbors, and to have little regard for the religious and spiritual values of the Iraqi people, lacking even an appreciation of Iraq's ecumenical and cosmopolitan past. Nor has the de facto authority shown any intention to put to use the intellectual and technical potential of the Iraqi people, causing even greater frustration, confusion and anger.

Finalmente, o professor de assuntos internacionais e Oriente Médio de Sarah Lawrence College, Fawaz A. Gerges, destaca a incoerência da política do baby Bush que carrega a bandeira da democracia para derrubar o Saddam, mas trata com carinho regimes autoritários no Egito, Arábia Saudita, Jordânia, etc...

It's been clear to me, as I've been doing field research in Arab countries over the last few years, that people in the Middle East want democracy. Thousands of courageous Muslims have paid dearly for speaking out against state oppression and religious fanaticism and for demanding political enfranchisement. These democrats hold the key to the Arab world's future and deserve America's support.

It's also clear that Arab autocrats — even those who woo the West with democratic language — won't do anything unless they're nudged and pushed. Shamefully, President Bush and his senior aides spent most of their meeting last month with the leaders of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia pressing them to fight terrorism. What they should have been talking about was the importance of promoting democracy and reform. This emphasis sends the wrong message to Arab rulers and citizens by reinforcing the widely held perception that the United States uses democracy as a whip to punish its enemies, like Iraq, while doing business as usual with its autocratic allies.