But what does "democracy" mean, in this part of the world? Give them a US or european style constitution and just say "go to it"? It ain't gonna work. That's what the Shah (in his ditatorial way) was trying to do: impose modernity on a people from above.
People have been talking as if the concept of jihad was some obscure doctrine fished out of a misreading of the Koran. But the concept of a holy war against the infidel, and of a worldwide Islamic state, is central to the whole Koran. It isn't just some book of peace and love - it exhorts all followers of the true faith to take arms for Allah. As Islamic civilization developed, it was "domesticated" somewhat, but in anything close to it's original form, its fundamentally incompatible with pluralistic western democracy. What do we do when faced with something like that? I really don't know.
Jim Baird
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