Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Vietnam: The New Iraq

Given that Vietnam's secret police almost certainly eavesdrop on any contact he has with the wider world, I was prepared for a discreet and carefully phrased conversation, meant to minimize his risk. Dr. Que was not. He got straight to the point: "What I want is liberty for my people." The question now, he said, "is how to make regime change in Vietnam." For democratization of his country, he added, "support from the rest of the world is important." Specifically, he wants Hanoi's decaying communist party to "put forward a timetable for free and fair elections."
The Iraq expedition has led to some interesting side effects around the world, and it is very hard to argue against many of them. That people are seeing the benefits of liberty and freedom - free and fair elections to determine governments rather than totalitarian regimes - is a good thing.

We might not always agree with the political stances of said governments after they form - witness the inane clown posse in France and Germany pre Iraq elections - but they are a far better form of governance than the totalitarian regimes they replace.

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