Can The Muddle East Embrace Democracy

Looking at Iraq it makes you wonder if Democracy can be imported artificially.It took us a thousand years to get it right -or at least functioning fairly well. Only Israel significantly has achieved this feat but the jewish history of diaspora helped them absorb the democratic values of other nations and adopt the template. No doubt the war in Iraq has been hamstrung by liberal media driven politcal correctness where a more iron fisted approach would have purged the terrorists sooner rather than let them flourish and regroup as has happened. The BBC may regard psychopthic terrorists as 'insurgents' but a purge on them would obviously be preferably to the much vaunted and boasted-about 'hearts and minds' operation of the British (as opposed to the more head on, take no prisoners American way.) The softly softly British policy in Iraq has had no more effect than it it has in the UK with criminals.They now rule the streets. It is to be hoped that we now draw lessons from the debacle and take off the velvet gloves.