Iraq (2004) | Iraq’s Prospects for Democracy Are Poor

Vivid demonstrations of Shiite religious fervor and undemocratic intent (in April 2003) caught our political leaders completely off guard. While Gen. Tommy Franks clearly did his homework before engaging Iraq in military combat, there are red faces throughout the Bush administration over the lack of preparation for the political challenge of a post-Saddam [Hussein] Iraq.

How did this happen? Ironically, the Bush administration accepted the anti-war argument that Iraq was too secular a country to foster a populist, religious-based antipathy to American interests. In reality,...

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