You Cannot Export Democracy

On the CBC news tonight, I hear Stephen Harper calling Afghanistan a "war", and the only exit strategy is "success".

With the DoD sending more troops and heavy armor to Afghanistan, I for one would like to know just what the terms of engagement really are.

It seems to me that you can't define success if you don't have clear objectives, preferably objectives that are practical.

Harper spoke of "fostering democracy" in Afghanistan - once again sounding like a miniature George W. Bush, and he is equally deluded. Democracy cannot be "imposed" at the end of a gun barrel. Democracy, at least as we understand it, depends on the presence of a stable, civil society that respects the rights and freedoms of its citizens. Otherwise, all that you create is a breeding ground for strongman dictators, who will quite ruthlessly kill their opponents if they cannot sway them.

Contrary to conserva-think these days, democracy is not an exportable commodity.