Mr Bush mentioned Iran in his State of the Union Speech. Is the U.S promoting Democracy there? Or perhaps enabling incumbent Islamic fundamentalists to keep their entrenched power? Abbas Abdi, one time student revolutionary leader at the U.S embassy siege is now a reformer- and is in jail for polling about Iranians views on U.S/Iranian relations. Here are the poll results . There also is a telling article in the Feb 10 issue of The Nation page 6; it is not available online.
It seems clear to me that where there is religious fundamentalism rather than a secular state, Democracy is at risk.
I'm not going to tell you about this quote so you will read the (rather long) article:
"As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries." 1796...
People are people, no matter where they reside. This Eric Alterman article bears reading, especially if you have enough hindsight to remember Le Monde's September 11th headline proclaiming "We are all Americans Now".
