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From Afghanistan

A friend is travelling through Afghanistan as part of a circus (yes, a circus). One of his more recent emails: Salaam from Karte Seh, Kabul, I hope this finds you safe and in good spirits. I have a new telephone number and mailing address in the U.S., noted at the bottom of this email. Nearly one month ago, what little I knew of Afghanistan I knew by pictures and words, maybe a couple good books, like “Kite Runner” or “An Unexpected Light,” and sound bites from the Boston Globe or Washington Post. Even if I knew better, I still had…

Time to heed the call up

I was watching CNN last night and came across a Lou Dobbs interview with Fouad Ajami, Director, Middle East Studies Program, John Hopkins University. Dr. Ajami made a lot of sense to me. To get a sense of where he is coming from, here is a list of articles by or about Dr. Ajami: Iraq and the Arabs Future Rude Arab Awakening What the Arab World Is Watching [critique of Al-Jezeera] Lebanon Star [critique of Ajami’s attack on Al-Jezerra] During the interview, in which he was speaking about the Abu Ghuraib scandal and the brutal beheading of Nick Berg, Ajami…

The Revealer on Katrina [updated]

Read this piece. You cannot escape the race issue in the Katrina disaster. You have to wonder if that’s what makes it OK to ignore situation – on the part of the federal government, that contributed to this catastrophe by de-funding the levee construction, removing National Guard and flood equipment (for Iraq?!?) and then not mobilizing resources quickly and appropriately. I’m also hearing CNN ask if this is about race or class. It’s not an either/or option. Race and class are linked, although, this administration has done a lot to erase that line by making sure so many more of…

3 thoughts on “Islam and Democracy”

  1. A bit ironic that you link to an op/ed by Dilip Hiro that lauds Qatar’s democracy when you also note the banning of your site by that same country. Anyhoo, I don’t know what democracy will look like in Iraq, but I’m baffled Hiro’s optimistic opinion that 1) the country has a chance of remaining unified, and 2) it won’t follow a theocratic model. I want to make it clear that I don’t think Iraq needs to follow a secular, liberal democratic model (which happens to be my preference which is why I live here and not in Saudi Arabia).

  2. I wanted to work on Hiro’s piece a bit, but I knew I wouldn’t get to it immediately, and I thought it was more useful just to get it out there. I liked it because I thought I thought it talked about the various ways Islam fits into government models.
    I’m not sure Iraq will stay together without some help. However, I think the administration has enough sense to realize that if Iraq falls apart soon, it will count as a failure. I’m fairly confident that “vilayat-e faqih” will not take hold in Iraq b/c Sistani has come out against it, and was opposed to Khomeini on this point. That, of course, does not preclude a theocracy.
    Is free speech a sign of democracy? (Qatar) Remember that recently several ABC affiliates refused to air “Saving Private Ryan” for fear of a government backlash, after two years of showing it. Does that mean we are not a democracy? (Rhetorical interest. Your point is taken.)

  3. Yes, that was pretty lame self-censorship on the part of stations that balked at showing the movie. I agree that free speech is not a sign of democracy, but is a sign of a liberal democracy (as distinguished in Fareed Zakaria’s excellent read, the Future of Freedom). Hiro thinks that Qatar is both.

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