LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

DEAR PEGGY: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR peggy-north@monthlyherald.com

MAIL: SECOND POUCH

Democracy in Iraq? America's most deadly mistake

Some commentators argue that the relatively secular Iraqi culture will not opt for a full-fledged theocracy like Iran's. Perhaps—but leaving the issue to be decided by unlimited majority rule could be America's most deadly mistake. Yet 62 percent of respondents to a recent ABC News poll said America should support an Islamic fundamentalist state in Iraq, if it gains power by "democratic" vote. Leaving such a democracy in Iraq would be a betrayal of every value we sought to gain in this war. The essential evil of Saddam's Baathist ideology was its collectivism, the view that the "Arab Nation" is supreme and that the rights and interests of the individual may be sacrificed in service to its dictates. It makes no difference, in principle, if this "collective will" is divined by the edicts of a dictator or by majority vote—so long as the rights of the individual may still be sacrificed. Anything-goes democracy in Iraq could be an even greater threat to American interests than the regime we have spent so much blood and money to topple. It is vitally important that our leaders make clear that they are attempting to leave behind a system of liberty, not democracy, in Iraq. It would be obscene to spend American lives to establish such a profoundly anti-American idea as the tyranny of the majority. Robert Garmond, California, USA.

Rights of Muslims in Britain

If you’re a Muslim in the UK today, you’re two-and-a-half times more likely to be unemployed than a non-Muslim, you’re three times more likely not to have a phone in your house, and you’re twice as likely to die in childbirth. And so it’s perhaps not surprising that Muslims in the UK, contrary to popular fears, are very keen to become better integrated into the mainstream of British society. In fact, many of us, Muslims, support government measures to introduce compulsory English language tests for migrant Muslims. But our rights as Muslims are not protected... Layla Badri, London. UK.