Dream big about Mideast

Dallas Morning News: All along, some Westerners have argued democracy will spread across the Mideast if freedom can just gain a foothold amid the region's authoritarian governments. President Bush himself used democracy as a rationale for toppling Saddam Hussein.
The president revisited the theme last week. He cited Syria and Iran as needing a good dose of freedom, while not letting Egypt and Saudi Arabia off for their shortage of equal rights.
We applaud the president for dreaming big dreams. We particularly compliment him for holding friendly governments like the Egyptians and Saudis to a higher standard. Consistency will serve America's cause. The United States can't wink at nations with which America has vital relationships. Some Middle Easterners would see that as Americans being hypocrites or coddlers, neither of which helps eradicate terrorism.
Vigilance
But as the president dreams big dreams, he also needs to keep leveling with his fellow citizens. Bush is an optimist by nature. And he believes in results. But democracy will not simply arise in the Mideast. It requires vigilance, even more than the work that followed the Berlin Wall's collapse. The president pointed to Ronald Reagan imagining a world without communism, but political cultures don't change without, well, a long, hard slog.
Consider the Iraqi situation. One foot goes forward, another stays stuck.
The U.S. has rightly established an Iraqi governing council. Now comes news the council's not working well.
The Iraqi economy also poses a challenge. Treasury Undersecretary John Taylor says industries like the construction industry should boom once the nation takes off. But bureaucracies can slow down the development of property rights, he noted.