Spread of democracy easier said than done

Just how big a challenge President Bush faces in achieving his goal of spreading democracy throughout the world can be seen in two countries in the Middle East, one of which is a key ally of the United States.

Indeed, Bush and other western leaders got a reality check last week from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who recently suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency.

In responding to criticism of his actions from the United States and other countries, the former head of the army said: “I personally feel that there is an unrealistic and maybe an impractical and impracticable obsession with your form of democracy, with your form of human rights, civil liberties.”

With that tongue-lashing as the background, consider what is going in Saudi Arabia, whose relationship with the U.S. is deeply rooted, and Sudan.

In the oil-rich nation run by a royal family with close ties to the Bush administration, the case of the “Girl of Qatif” has draw international criticism because the victim of a rape has been sentenced to prison and 200 lashes.

The woman was attacked in 2006 when she met a high school friend in his car to retrieve a picture of herself from him, since she had just got married.

Rape

Two men got into the vehicle and drove them to a secluded area where five others waited, and then the woman — 19 at the time — and her companion were both raped.

Two months ago, she was sentenced to prison and 90 lashes for being alone with a man not related to her. That’s a violation of the kingdom’s strict segregation of the sexes. The seven rapists were also convicted.

When her lawyer appealed the sentence and made public comments about it, he was removed and his license was suspended. The court then increased the woman’s penalty to six months in prison and 200 lashes.

In Sudan, where President Omar al-Bashir has used Islamic militiamen to conduct an ethnic cleansing campaign against non-Islamic Sudanese, a British teacher was imprisoned for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

There is nothing to suggest that Gillian Gibbons, 54, in any way influenced her Muslim students to choose the name of Islam’s revered prophet, which is a violation of Sharia.

On Thursday, Gibbons was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation.

But on Friday, thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and swords and beating drums, burned pictures of the teacher and demanded her execution.

Release

Yesterday, President al-Bashir met with two members of the British parliament and subsequently ordered Gibbons’ immediate release and expulsion.

It is clear from what is going on in Saudi Arabia and Sudan that even if government leaders were inclined to loosen the chains that have kept their people captive for so long, the conservative clerics would be a major impediment to the spread of democracy.

That’s because the freedoms that come with such a form of government encourage people to think for themselves.

But it isn’t only in Middle East where Bush’s goal seems almost naive.

In Russia, which is led by his soulmate Vladimir Putin, parliamentary elections over the weekend were a farce. Putin’s party won 70 percent of the seats, but European election monitors said the ballot was unfair.

The victory makes Putin the de facto leader of Russia even after he leaves office next spring.

There was one piece of good news for Bush: Voters in Argentina rejected sweeping constitutional reforms pushed by President Hugo Chavez. Had they passed, Chavez, who has used his country’s oil as a weapon against the United States, would have been able to seek re-election indefinitely.