Israeli Shin Bet Chief Makes Silly, Amoral Comments About Iraq
February 9, 2006, 11:26 am |
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By Andrew L. Jaffee
Israel’s Shin Bet chief, Yuval Diskin, was secretly recorded making silly comments about the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein. He expressed qualms about Iraq’s liberation. While some may construe his commentary as pragmatic, it is in reality amoral. Here’s Diskin, from the BBC:
When asked about the growing destabilisation of Iraq, Mr Diskin said Israel might come to rue its decision to support the US-led invasion in 2003.
“When you dismantle a system in which there is a despot who controls his people by force, you have chaos,” he said.
“I’m not sure we won’t miss Saddam.”
Note that this post could also be titled, “BBC Makes Silly, Amoral Comments About Iraq.” The BBC says there’s “growing destabilisation” in Iraq at precisely a time when things are quieting down. That’s a loaded statement for a news story, and would have been more appropriate in an editorial.
I would remind Diskin and the BBC that the supposedly desperate, disenfranchised, hopeless Sunnis, the fuel of Iraq’s “growing destabilisation,” participated in huge numbers in December’s parliamentary elections. According to Lebanon’s Daily Star:
In Saddam Hussein’s home province more than 80 percent of voters turned out, an electoral official said.
The largely peaceful vote was in sharp contrast to January’s election for an interim assembly, when 40 people died.
Sunni Arabs mostly boycotted that poll but took part with determination and enthusiasm on Thursday, backed by nationalist rebels who vowed to protect voters.
In Fallujah turnout touched 70 percent, local officials said…
Iraq’s Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis are now busily negotiating to form a coalition government. Violence has dropped off sharply.
How nice it is for Diskin to decry Iraqi attempts at democracy while he himself enjoyed the benefits of growing up in one. And the argument that Arabs/Muslims cannot handle democracy is balderdash, despite the Mohammed cartoon frenzy.
The Afghans, Lebanese and Iraqis are working towards open democracy. Three other examples immediately come to mind: Indonesia, Djibouti, and Turkey; all Muslim and democratic nations.
In Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, free parliamentary elections were held in 1999 and Megawati Sukarnoputri, a woman, became president in 2001. Parliamentary elections were held again in 2004, with 24 political parties participating. Indonesia has 147,219,531 registered voters out of a total population of 216,948,359.
Djibouti, a 94% Muslim and 6% Christian nation, chose President Ismael Omar Gelleh in multi-party elections in 1999. The country suffered a civil war starting in 1992. The warring parties signed peace accords in 1994 and 2000, and the country has been stable since. The French — whom some Djiboutis may have seen as an external, “occupying” power — helped bring the various factions together.
Need I also mention Turkey, the longest lasting Muslim democracy in history?
Of course, these are not perfect examples, but when is democracy perfect? Diskin cannot see past the tip of his pragmatic, security-minded nose. The BBC is stuck in the worn-out dogma of the Left, seeing U.S. attempts at spreading democracy as some type of imperialism.
At least Diskin (and the BBC) could show some respect for all the Americans who have lost their lives fighting for Iraq’s liberation.
Related: Iraq, Israel, Political Correctness
February 9th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
I think you are trying to make too much out of too little a comment attributed to Israel’s Shin Bet chief, Yuval Diskin.
Diskin is simply saying that what Iraq might become could be worse than it was under Saddam.
As for your comments of praise for the efforts at the beginnings of democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, I agree they are commendable, especially in Iraq where people braved death just to vote.
It is far too early to predict that if the U.S. leaves Iraq and Afghanistan in a year or two. democracy will have rooted well enough to grow without the U.S. gardener there to tend the democratic garden.
Diskin, as Shin Bet Chief is paid to be pessimistic and plan accordingly. Politicians can afford to be optimistic and make policy to chase dreams accordingly.
Balance between pessimism and optimism usually comes somewhere in between. In Israel however, who can blame them for being pessimistic or not rising above cautious optimism.
I do not get from Diskin’s comments that he is amoral. I’ll bet he is just a practical realist from the darker side of government who while hoping things will be better in Iraq, cannot let go of his niggling pessimism that the odds are that there is a good chance for a turn for the worse.
May 12th, 2007 at 10:46 am
[...] Turkey’s constitutional crisis over electing a new (Islamist) president has stirred passions. “…More than a million moderate Muslims in five marches protested the bid of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to take over the presidency of the republic.” A Turkish pundit, Ä°brahim Karagül, found a link on my blog netwmd.com entitled, “Will Turkey Have an Islamist President?” by Michael Rubin. Karagül blogged Rubin’s article in a piece called, “Ak Parti’ye neocon tuzağı!,” which roughly translates to “AKP neocon trap!” Thousands of Turks read Rubin’s article, which I hope is a sign that political discourse is alive and well in Turkey. Unfortunately, several readers zeroed in on the fact that Rubin is Jewish. As usual, the “Zionists” were accused of interfering in Turkey’s politics (see reader comments, e.g., “you are disgusting” and “Fuck you and fuck israil”). Rather than extrapolating Turkish public opinion based on some wacky comment-trolls, I decided to see if I could find out what’s going on in the Turkish mind. I found an opinion poll from the Pew Research Center, “Can Secular Democracy Survive in Turkey?” …Pew surveys find that Turks believe Islam is playing a larger role in the nation’s political life, and a majority worries that religion’s influence may be harmful. There also are growing doubts among Turks about democracy’s viability there. … [...]