Have you travelled much in the Middle Eastern countries with dictatorships LH? I disagree strongly that it is the same as Latin America. Much of the population in Latin America has European roots, including political ones, and the ties with the Western democracies are much, much stronger than is the case with the Middle East.

To say you have never met anyone from the 3rd world who did not long for democracy sounds like something George Bush would say. He hasn't met many "3rd world" people, and has rarely travelled outside the US at all. Which is a large part of the problem with our current adminstration's political worldview. Remember, the Bush administration's ambassador to France can't even speak French. But he does, apparently, speak right wing US Republican quite fluently.