I usually don't like to discuss this, but I ran across three interesting quotes today as it pertains to Iraq and the Muslim world:

Alan M. Dershowitz, a criminal law professor at Harvard Law School and the author of The Case for Israel, once wrote "The primary cause of terrorism is not occupation, humiliation, or desperation... The primary cause of terrorism is that it works. And it works because the craven international community gives into it and rewards it. It also works because too many Islamic leaders praise it and too few condemn it. Terrorism will continue as long as potential terrorists believe they will benefit from using that tactic."

This is particularly interesting in light of my post a few weeks ago on my trip to Guatemala. I was warned of possible kidnapping and what to do in such a case. A further discussion made me think of why they kidnap white Americans: they know that the family and friends back home will chip the required money for their release. It continues because it works, there is no stopping it.

"There's no way you can impose western culture and democracy and Judeo-Christian ethics on a Muslim community to start with. The best that you can hope for is that they've got somebody in there that's not a radical nut like the president of Iran, or Saddam Hussein, or something like that." - Bruce Tefft, Former CIA official and Middle East expert

I've felt this for a long time, not all cultures are ready or able to exist in the Western style of democracy, and I think the Iraqis are a prime example. I do not feel democracy will work in that nation.

Yet, Iraq remains a predominantly Muslim nation. Its people are a Muslim people. Al-Din, who supports the US military presence in Iraq, has problems with the new Iraqi Constitution because it relies on Islamic principles. He believes the only way for Iraq to truly be a free democratic nation is for the government of Iraq to form a secular democracy. Mixing Islam and democracy, he said, "is like mixing Marxists and capitalists."

How true!