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CNN Live Sunday

Is Democracy Possible in Middle East?

Aired March 09, 2003 - 17:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush has made no secret of his long-term vision for Iraq. He is talking about turning it into a democracy. But really would that inspire other countries in the region?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, a lot of people are asking that. And they're wondering is democracy even possible in Iraq. President Bush says, yes. Some people say the U.S. would not like the results if it was not democracy. CNN's Richard Blystone is in bordering Kuwait with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD BLYSTONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's a country where the United States has tried to inspire democracy, its ally, Kuwait. Arguably, it is the freest country in the Gulf region, but of close to 900,000 citizens, only one in seven can vote, all male. Political parties are banned. The emir can dissolve parliament anytime he wants. And newspaper editor Mohammed Al-Jassem says it works pretty well.

MOHAMMED AL-JASSEM, NEWSPAPER EDITOR: I think the Kuwaitis are happy with the level of democracy they have.

BLYSTONE: Iraq has a parliament, but true and stable democracy would indeed be a novelty. The coup that brought Saddam Hussein to power was Iraq's seventh. And the last century has been full of strikes, uprising, riots, crackdowns and dictatorships.

ABDULLAH BISHARA, FORMER KUWAITI DIPLOMAT: Democracy is not going to work in Iraq. Democracy, real democracy is something we cannot afford either the Kuwaitis or the Americans.

BLYSTONE: What bothers Al-Jassem and many others is this -- fundamentalism and Shia Muslim-dominated Iran. True democracy in Iraq would take the balance of power from the Sunni Muslim minority that's dominated Iraq for centuries and hand it to the 60 percent who are Shia Muslims. The concern, would Iraqi Shias be drawn into the orbit of the hard line mullahs of Iran? No, says retired Kuwaiti diplomat, Abdullah Bishara.

BISHARA: You know, most of the army at fault (ph) Iran under the Saddam regime, and the line of division and the divide was not there. So I don't buy this argument.

BLYSTONE: Political scientist Abdul Rada Assiri (ph), a Kuwaiti Shia, himself, agrees.

Shias and non-Shias are Iraqi first of all. Their allegiance, their loyalty is to their nation state, not to a sect. There is a common theme, unfortunately, separated (ph) here and there that Iraqi are undemocratic, that the Iraqi cannot rule themselves, that they need a tyrant, that they need a dictator and military regime. I don't think that's true.

BLYSTONE: But if Iraq should become a successful democracy, what of the inspiration President Bush spoke about? Would it spread insurrections in regimes around the region, all of them imperfectly Democratic at best?

BISHARA: On the contrary, I think the breeze of democracy will blow into the region, in here and down into the Gulf.

BLYSTONE: Fresh breeze or ill wind?

(on camera): That depends on who's feeling it.

Richard Blystone, CNN, Kuwait.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired March 9, 2003 - 17:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush has made no secret of his long-term vision for Iraq. He is talking about turning it into a democracy. But really would that inspire other countries in the region?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, a lot of people are asking that. And they're wondering is democracy even possible in Iraq. President Bush says, yes. Some people say the U.S. would not like the results if it was not democracy. CNN's Richard Blystone is in bordering Kuwait with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD BLYSTONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's a country where the United States has tried to inspire democracy, its ally, Kuwait. Arguably, it is the freest country in the Gulf region, but of close to 900,000 citizens, only one in seven can vote, all male. Political parties are banned. The emir can dissolve parliament anytime he wants. And newspaper editor Mohammed Al-Jassem says it works pretty well.

MOHAMMED AL-JASSEM, NEWSPAPER EDITOR: I think the Kuwaitis are happy with the level of democracy they have.

BLYSTONE: Iraq has a parliament, but true and stable democracy would indeed be a novelty. The coup that brought Saddam Hussein to power was Iraq's seventh. And the last century has been full of strikes, uprising, riots, crackdowns and dictatorships.

ABDULLAH BISHARA, FORMER KUWAITI DIPLOMAT: Democracy is not going to work in Iraq. Democracy, real democracy is something we cannot afford either the Kuwaitis or the Americans.

BLYSTONE: What bothers Al-Jassem and many others is this -- fundamentalism and Shia Muslim-dominated Iran. True democracy in Iraq would take the balance of power from the Sunni Muslim minority that's dominated Iraq for centuries and hand it to the 60 percent who are Shia Muslims. The concern, would Iraqi Shias be drawn into the orbit of the hard line mullahs of Iran? No, says retired Kuwaiti diplomat, Abdullah Bishara.

BISHARA: You know, most of the army at fault (ph) Iran under the Saddam regime, and the line of division and the divide was not there. So I don't buy this argument.

BLYSTONE: Political scientist Abdul Rada Assiri (ph), a Kuwaiti Shia, himself, agrees.

Shias and non-Shias are Iraqi first of all. Their allegiance, their loyalty is to their nation state, not to a sect. There is a common theme, unfortunately, separated (ph) here and there that Iraqi are undemocratic, that the Iraqi cannot rule themselves, that they need a tyrant, that they need a dictator and military regime. I don't think that's true.

BLYSTONE: But if Iraq should become a successful democracy, what of the inspiration President Bush spoke about? Would it spread insurrections in regimes around the region, all of them imperfectly Democratic at best?

BISHARA: On the contrary, I think the breeze of democracy will blow into the region, in here and down into the Gulf.

BLYSTONE: Fresh breeze or ill wind?

(on camera): That depends on who's feeling it.

Richard Blystone, CNN, Kuwait.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com