Did Bush and the Iraq War inspire Iranian protestors?
Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity both seem to think so.
...But I have to disagree.
COULTER: Iran is called the red state of the Middle East, because most of — 70 percent of the population is under age 30. Those kids want to live in freedom.
HANNITY: By the way, you’re always so…
COULTER: And that’s George Bush.
HANNITY: You’re always so shy and timid in your views.
COULTER: George Bush helped the Iranians.HANNITY: Come on, Coulter. That was a joke.
COULTER: They saw fellow Muslims living in freedom and democracy in Iraq, and that’s what inspired this. And Obama is living off the War on Terror…
HANNITY: You’re the only one that has said that, and I thought the exact same thing. I think George W. Bush helped create this.
For Coulter and Hannity to suggest that the gains we’ve made in Iraq have been viewed favorably by the Iranians is foolhardy, to say the least.
Despite the wishful thinking of Pan-Arab nationalists, and the McCarthy-esque polemics of conservative political pundits like Coulter and Hannity, “Muslims” and “Arabs” are not necessarily one cohesive unit of people. You only need to look as far as the Middle East itself to see that Muslim countries as a whole are not a monolithic international coalition of common interests.
Iranians, like most Muslims, respect the American commitment to democracy and individual freedoms** but clearly are not looking to the Iraq model for a lesson in democracy. The two situations are relatively incomparable.
Iraq’s dictatorship was eliminated, leaving a political vacuum filled by proxy-fighters and insurgents, and a third-party stepped in and established a system of government.
Iran’s dictatorship is being protested by it’s citizens, with little to no third-parties in play.
There’s no doubt in my mind that despite the price in civilian casualties, and the massive problems of infrastructure and refugee reorientation, Iraq is better off now than under Saddam, but to suggest that the Iranians are taking tips from the invasion of Iraq on how to revolt is, quite frankly, wishful thinking.
This is admittedly, only my gut-reaction to the clip, but my first impression is one of disingenuity, as if Coulter and Hannity are looking to squeeze - ex-post-facto - an unexpected tick-mark on the Iraq War checklist.
**[Source: Who Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think]
