The possibility that Muslims are not like us “scares” the teeny-con

Jonah Goldberg writes at National Review Online

For many disciples of the “international peace process,” it’s a matter of faith that the Palestinians just have to want peace, because how else can you have a peace process? For many supporters of the Bush Doctrine, Iraqis have to want democracy, because if they don’t, what’s the point of having a freedom agenda? But what if these are just beloved Western fictions? We see a well-lighted path to the good life: democracy, tolerance, rule of law, markets. But what if the Arab world just isn’t interested in our path? As a believer in the freedom agenda, that’s what scares me most.

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Van Wijk writes:

Goldberg wrote: “As a believer in the freedom agenda, that’s what scares me most.”

This is a profound statement. He has essentially come right out and told his readers that he is a liberal. If he had just a bit more honesty or perhaps capacity for critical thought, he could have written: “I am an ideologue who expects reality to conform to my ideology.”

John D. writes:

I don’t frequent NRO anymore, and Goldberg was never one of my favorites when I did. Is this a first for Goldberg, or has he questioned the underlying principle of the GWB/neocon, grand democracy project in the past? If he has not, this is a very telling step for him.

LA replies:

I remember about a year ago when the NRO types, including Richard Lowry, were turning around and becoming quasi Iraq critics, but I don’t offhand remember Goldberg participating in those discussions. I agree that if he has never had these thoughts before, then it is a significant moment for him. But what struck me more than his baby-steps toward the truth was the little-boy way he described it—that he would find the truth about Muslims’ lack of capacity for democracy “scary.”

These are the infants that launched a thousand ships.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 20, 2007 12:31 PM | Send