March 4, 2005

The Transformational Power of Liberty

George Miller in London reflects on the growing anti-tyranny movement in the Middle East:

We should not be insufferable about this, but neither should we be apologetic in pointing out that the geo-political earthquake we are witnessing in Arabia is the result of the fortitude of a crazy American administration led by a stupid president.

The Western lefties who continue to protest that the democratic experiment in Arabia will end in tears, behave like undertakers in a maternity ward. They predict death and sorrow in the very place that hope and joy are being born. They revel in every desperate car bomb that is exploded by the enemies of democracy. They eagerly await the murderous reprisal of the terror squads, backed by Arab tyrants, who are even now planning to slaughter brave Iraqi and Lebanese civilians. Such murder and mayhem will "prove" that Bush and other democrats are hopeless dreamers. These pampered fellow citizens of the democratic world are, as ever, the cheerleaders of tyranny.

Even a leftist journalist like NPR's Daniel Schorr now says Bush "may have had it right" about the transformational power of liberty. In an NPR commentary broadcast March 1, Schorr said:

The movements for democratic change in Egypt and Lebanon have happened since the successful Iraqi election and one can speculate on whether Iraq has served as a beacon light for democratic change in the Middle East. During the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, President Bush said that a liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region. He may have had it right.