by Conor Friedersdorf
Above Mickey Kaus surmises yes, and Bob Wright forcefully insists no. On this one, I agree with Bob, and I've never understood why seeing the United States military invade a country and establish a democracy would inspire revolutions elsewhere. It was never ignorance of democracy's existence that was stopping other Arab populations from rising up and it isn't as if "get invaded by America" was a viable strategy or a desired thing elsewhere.
Had Iraqis risen up and overthrown Saddaam Hussein, I understand how that might've inspired similar actions elsewhere. But that's not what happened. (Incidentally, Mickey Kaus has been hired by The Daily Caller, where he'll now be blogging, though it doesn't seem like the transfer has happened yet.)