Posted by Michael Tackett at May 2, 2006
CAIRO-Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities, the man who oversees the Pyramids, the Sphinx and other major sites in Egypt, knows his history. Though he is emerging as a world figure for his aggressive efforts to retrieve stolen antiquities from museums and private collections around the world, he also had some thoughts about the war in Iraq.
"When you went into Iraq, I said Mr. Bush, you will never make a democracy," Hawass told a group of reporters on fellowship here sponsored by Johns Hopkins University's International Reporting Project. "You need dictatorship."
Like most in the Arab world, Hawass believes the U.S. should not "interfere in the politics of everyone." "Iraq is a bloody country. The blood is in the streets from 5000 years ago. You will never made democracy in Iraq."
Sitting in his office alongside the pyramids, Hawass' words carry some extra weight this week. On his desk were several copies of Time Magazine featuring him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
(photo from http://guardians.net/hawass/ )
• 
• 
• 
Comments
Why is this news now? There were plenty of people saying the same thing in 2003. It's a little late now.
Posted by: Dienne | May 2, 2006 11:48 AM
The US will never make democracy in Iraq? What nonsense. Weren't Japan and Germany countries with blood in the streets and entrenched dictatorial traditions? And today they are thriving democracies. As is the whole of the Eastern Europe and Russia even. Democracy and freedom is the only legitimate way for any society---a way that people in Iraq want for themselves and their children like everybody else. They proved it by voting in overwhelming numbers and against threats.
Posted by: Zdzislaw Meglicki | May 2, 2006 4:47 PM
Sorry...I don't agree. Japan and Germany were highly civilized and industrial societies and, though run by dictatorships, were culturally advanced. The entire Mid-East is living in the sixteenth century and is devoted to domination and destruction of the west.
No matter how "intelligent" it is, you can't teach a monkey to play Beethoven. An iron fist is all the Mid-East has known for centuries. Until you break the culture of hatred for anything non-Islam, you'll never "civilize" them. (Of course, the ultimate irony is the fact that 5000 years ago, Iraq was the cradle of civilization.)
Posted by: Dave | May 3, 2006 7:42 AM