From Andrew McCarthy:
From the Republican platform adopted this week:
We recognize the historic nature of the events of the past two years – the Arab Spring – that have unleashed democratic movements leading to the overthrow of dictators who have been menaces to global security for decades. In a season of upheaval, it is necessary to be prepared for anything. That is true on the ground in the Middle East, and it will be equally true in the next Administration, particularly with a new President unbound by the failures of the past. We welcome the aspirations of the Arab peoples and others for greater freedom, and we hope that greater liberty – and with it, a greater chance for peace – will result from the recent turmoil.
I hope that Mitt Romney becomes our new president, but if he is going to be “unbound by the failures of the past,” he should ignore the above plank. To truly “be prepared for anything,” the new president would have to understand that what the “Arab Spring” has “unleashed” is Islamic supremacism. Whether we face up to it or not, that is the mainstream Islam of the Middle East.
My imminent new book, Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy, acknowledges that there are indeed democrats in the Middle East; the problem is that they are vastly outnumbered. With due respect to the GOP’s “Islamic democracy” enthusiasts, the “aspirations of the Arab peoples,” in the main, are not for “greater freedom.”
