I posted this in a different thread, but it has some pertinence here...

"I wonder whether we Americans can actually practice what we preach when it comes to the Middle East? Do we actually want elected governments in those countries, when evidence suggests that those governments could well be Islamic Theocracies? The Pakistani leader is promising popular elections in the near future. Is that an encouraging prospect, given the prevalence of angry fundamentalists in that country, and especially coupled with their possession of nuclear weapons? Personally, I don't think we would tolerate a hostile fundamentalist government in Pakistan, freely elected or not. Who would be at risk from such a government? Certainly not only the US, but Canada, Ireland and all other "Crusader" powers. Before we handily accuse the US of nasty meddling in the affairs of sovereign nations, maybe some attention needs to be paid to the small concern of continued human survival."