All the ones I've ever spoken to do (want democracy). But that's just my experience, which is limited. I've read articles by Muslim authors which indicate the things I said above.

In some places they DO have democratic traditons to draw on. Pakistan has several times had a democratically elected government, only to have the military move in and depose it in the interests of "stability". This has also happened in Turkey, in Iran, in Indonesia and in a number of other Muslim countries that attempted democracy.

The general rule is...if a democratic government is elected in an Islamic country, and then has the bad judgement to do things that America or the U.K. do not WANT it to do...

Then, hey, PRESTO! There's a military coup, and the democracy ceases to exist.

Guess how that happens. Money. Big money.

It's the same thing that has occurred in any number of Latin American countries over the years.

I have never met ANYONE from the 3rd World who did not long for democracy, although some of them have very archaic attitudes about women's role in society. The fact is, people want to have a voice, but they want it under their own cultural assumptions, not someone elses. We're just like that too.

- LH