In a discussion of the Iraqi attempts to write a constitution that occurred on Meet the Press, guest Reuel Marc Gerecht, former Middle Eastern specialist with the CIA and author of “The Islamic Paradox” had this to say:
MR. GERECHT: Actually, I’m not terribly worried about this. I mean, one hopes that the Iraqis protect women’s social rights as much as possible. It certainly seems clear that in protecting the political rights, there’s no discussion of women not having the right to vote. I think it’s important to remember that in the year 1900, for example, in the United States, it was a democracy then. In 1900, women did not have the right to vote. If Iraqis could develop a democracy that resembled America in the 1900s, I think we’d all be thrilled. I mean, women’s social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy. We hope they’re there. I think they will be there. But I think we need to put this into perspective.
Sounds like Mr. Gerecht would like to be a candidate for getting his ass kicked.
Mr. Gerecht does indeed need an ass kickin…but then so do a lot of others. Such as Patrick Clawson, the neo-con-think-tank-dude, that mostly started this BS way of rationalizing mid-east policy. (read: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june03/democracy_2-27.html and also: http://www.meforum.org/article/147 ).