I have come to the uncomfortable conclusion that democracy is not for everyone.

I say this in response to some analyst's claim that "Should Iraq become a democracy in the near future, President Bush's rating (in historians' eyes) may rise."

It's not that I wish his rating to fall or even remain abysmally low. No matter how much I disagree with a person, I still want the person to be happy. I also want them to be successful, but not if the measure of success is across the gulf over which we differ.

In this case, I am giving Iraq very low chances for a sustainable democracy. You cannot just throw voting rights at a country and say, "you are now a democracy" any more than you can throw money at a software project and say, "Now make it not suck."

A democracy takes work. It takes huge sacrifices by those at the top, and multitudes of small sacrifices by the masses at the bottom.

It takes infrastructure. It requires that the electorate have some confidence in their livelihood and life so they can truly vote with their minds.

It requires education. In addition to basic literacy, it requires the voters be familiar with the candidates, their positions, and ways to research their claims, both to refute their opponents and to hold accountable their candicates.

It requires people to recognize what a precious gift this is. The easiest way to devalue something is to make it easy to attain.

I don't have a better alternative. (One of my father-in-law's favourite quotes: "Democracy is the worst system of government except all others.") I see already two "shining beacons of democracy" in the MidEast: Israel and Turkey. Israel is sustaining itself, but at some terrible moral cost to its neighbors and many of its subjects. And Turkey? It keeps wanting to vote in a caliphate and vote away its right to vote.

We can't sow democracy's seeds by simply casting them out our vehicle's windows. Yes, some will take root, but not enough given how much we paid for them.

We must set aside our preconceptions, including these high-minded ideals that democracy is for all, to examine where we are (in Iraq, a mess,) where we want to be (a sustainable democratic nation,) and all the unpleasant steps to get from here to there.

Both sides of the aisle seem to think that merely telling someone they are free to vote and free to run for office makes them a democracy. It may, but for only too brief a time.

discuss, please.