Mideast: Two years ago, it was a "quagmire," a
Soviet-style debacle in the making. Today, Afghanistan is on the way to
becoming a constitutional democracy.
Yes, we heard the dire
warnings about Afghanistan - just as we heard them about Iraq. Yet
Afghanistan's many rival factions in the Loya Jirga put aside their often
bitter disputes on Sunday to do something that many predicted would be
impossible: create a new constitution.
The 500-person Afghan
assembly created a new basic law - and put into it many trappings of a
democracy: a president, two legislative bodies and a commitment to the
rule of law, including women's rights. Elections are on the way.
It's a remarkable change for a country that, just two years ago,
was considered to be one of the most repressive on earth. Perhaps in the
past two years we've all gotten a bit blase. But look around.
Even
as we watch, there's a not-so-subtle shift in world attitudes taking
place. One that, quite possibly, could lead to a changed Mideast - and
maybe even some functioning democracies there.
Already, Iraq is on
pretty much the same road as Afghanistan - beginning, brick by brick, to
put in place a new national law, preparing for elections and attempting to
build a political structure that can withstand the often-violent strife.
There are other favorable changes:
Like India and Pakistan
talking and establishing neighborly ties after just two years ago nearing
the nuclear precipice of war.
Like Saudi Arabia actually starting
to grab suspected terrorists and clamping down on its overseas spending on
fundamentalist propaganda - the kind that breeds terrorists.
Like
Libya, once firmly in the terrorist camp, suddenly giving up its plans to
develop nuclear weapons.
Like Iran opening its borders for nuclear
inspections, and letting in help from the infidel West for its quake
victims.
None of this is an accident. President Bush's bold
moves in the Mideast are reshaping politics there. He deserves credit.
Because of Bush's decision to confront terrorism around the
world - and, where possible, defeat it and help build something better in
its place - the U.S. is a safer place. And that's true no matter what
threatening and apocalyptic words Osama bin Laden mouths on those crackly
audiotapes he periodically issues.
There are a number of reasons
for this. For one, America's spine stiffened after 9-11. People are less
likely to say events that happen elsewhere don't matter. Now, they know
they do.
The U.S. is also the beneficiary of a unique shift in
history. It used to be any nation could play one superpower against the
other. Not anymore. The U.S.' longtime foe, the Soviet Union, is gone. The
U.S. is the only nation with both the will and the means to protect its
interests anywhere in the world.
That helps explain why so many
nations - from North Korea to Pakistan, Syria to Libya - are so, well,
nervous right now. The U.S. knows nondemocratic regimes that torture, kill
and deprive their own citizens of rights are more likely to foster terror.
The U.S. is pushing them toward more openness and democracy -
whether they like it or not. They're getting the message.
So let
us congratulate the Afghan people on their nascent democracy. If this
president has his way, it will be the first of
many. |
