As Iranians head to polls, a lesson emerges for U.S.

Yahoo! News:

"In Iraq, the USA is already facing some unintended consequences. Iraq wasn't a central battleground in the war on terror when the United States invaded, but it is now. Long-term uncertainties include the possibility of an Islamic, anti-U.S. government.

If so, one lasting hope for a successful democratic model in the Muslim world might be Iran. Not because the United States can hammer it into its own image, but because Iran's people, looking westward, might demand what they do not have."

So very optimistic this one is (in a yoda voice). Optimistic, but unrealistic. The middle east folks appear to need a very strong and "hands on" government. I think the political systems over there reflect that, because a stable government over there needs to be able to handle the unstable/wild population, and the only way to do that, apparently, is to be controlling/brutal/totalitarian. Although they could give democracy or republicanism (not the GOP) a try, I predict it will ultimately fail due to the instability. Hopefully I'm wrong, hopefully the Iraq experiment will be a success, hopefully democracy will take root and bear fruit... I doubt it, but there's hope.

Perhaps I'm thinking that democracy in any form will probably only be a real option for civilized nations. When one thinks of civilized nations, I do not believe any middle-east country comes to mind. Instead, the monicker of "Arabic country" comes in. I mean, come on, they're stuck in time... they still dress like people 2,000 freekin years ago, and sadly, that's not a joke. Either their religion set the clothing of its time upon them forever, or they're not creative enough to progress even clothing! Either way, it's pathetic.

And then of course comes the contradictions. The biggest one people hear about is how they abhore the "West" for its technology. Well here's a technology they should get rid of if they really believe that, electricity. Here's another one that they need to scrap, plumbing. And how about medical and surgical technologies, are they doing without those at all? No, of course not. They want technology as much as anyone else, so it's not really a belief, but an excuse, and not a very good one at that.

Anyway, even though Persia was once a model of civilization, for its time, that's not longer the case. They have something holding them back in a big way. It's not their religion though, that'd just be another excuse. It's fear. Fear of what? Well, a lot. Trying, success, individualism, accountability, expression, and change, to name a few. But maybe I'm wrong. /shrug