Is Iraq The Very Model Of A Modern Major Democracy?

"Iraq can serve as an anchor of stability in the region, a counter to Iranian hegemony and a model of democracy for the Middle East."

John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham

In Israel As Key Ally Of US In Mideast? Maybe Not Much Longer, I suggested that Iraq was shaping up to be the up and coming ally of the US in the Middle East--perhaps even taking the place of Israel, see that Iraq after all is an Arab country.

Andy McCarthy has disabused me of that notion, after writing about how vociferously the Iraq leadership has come out in condemning Israel. He quotes from the AP:

"Expressing condemnation and denunciation for what is going on against our brothers in Gaza and expressing solidarity with them by words only doesn't mean anything in the face of the big tragedy they are facing," he said in a statement released by office in Najaf.

"Now more than at any other time, both Arab and Islamic nations are required to take a practical stance for the sake of stopping this repeated aggression and to break the unfair besieging of these brave people," the statement said, without giving details of the proposed stance.

McCarthy concludes:

The administration touts the Iraqis' democratic progress ad nauseum, but what most of us care about is the part about how they're supposedly going to be with us on radical Islam. Yes, they've allowed us to quell al Qaeda's operations in their country — which it was in their interest to do for various reasons. But in what sense is a country where it's smart politics to be anti-American, where the major parties are Islamist, and where Hezbollah and Hamas are looked upon kindly likely to become "a strong ally in the war on terror"?

It continues to be hard to find another real democracy in the Middle East these days.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Iraq.