Racist, you fool? It was a metaphor. Iraqis were cast as creatures of God's crowning glory, objectively viewed, in the animal kingdom. The intervention of the US, my trope continues, resulted in their being wrenched from their habitat (by analogy, their familiar cultural patterns) and thrust (not nurtured) to a (watery) end in a process, all things considered, that was too swift for the folks involved and their culture. This says nothing about the Iraqis "ability" to adopt (adapt to) democracy, but it says everything about the arrogant, ignorant and incompetent way we have managed the process so far, with the history of the discord and the failure to govern being Exhibit A as to the validity of the proposition I am putting forth.
Whew , you are indeed taking this very personally .
Please do not , I bear you no ill will .
I will be a lot more comfortable with continuing this argument if you are able to objectify the argument .
May we? I can cease to use the term "racist" , if that helps.
First of all, Tigers are strong swimmers .
Secondly Iraqis are educateable, no less than you and I .
Thirdly no one has a heritage ingrained in himself from any time earlier than his own conception.
Fourthly democracy is compatable with Iraqi culture , for the simple reason that a government democratically produced by Iraqis will necessarily cope itself to the culture of Iraq , else it will loose election to a government better coped to the people who elect it.
Fifthly the process chosen by President Bush and his administration could not have been in any respect more nurturing and patient , contrasted with Douglas MacArthur's assigning the Japanese Constitution to his staff to get written on deadline , considering how well MacArthur's constitution was an instant and continuing success it might be argued that the Bush approach was insufficiently arrogant and condescending .