Arab Democracy - An Oxymoron?

I won't and don't pretend to be an expert on the Middle East, but this latest conflict between Israel and Lebanon is making me think more about the Bush Doctrine. You know, the one which states that if we establish a democracy in Iraq, it will spread through the rest of the Middle East and allow people of all countries and religions to experience "freedom."
So now, we have a practically powerless Iraq government (albeit elected in a semi-legitimate election). We have the radical group, Hamas, in control of the Palestinian parliament (again thanks to democratic elections). Like Hamas, the Hezbollah's main function as a political entity is to push for the destruction of Israel, and it appears the Lebanese government is powerless to control them. Hamas and Hezbollah have another thing in common - support from Iran.
All this time we've been focusing on Iraq, Iran has been developing a nuclear arsenal and building up organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. They were able to do this in part because we got ride of their number one enemy, Saddam Hussein.
Nobody wants Iraq to go back to a ruler like Hussein, but it's hard to argue with critics of the current strategy in Iraq who believe that Arab countries are better off with authoritarian rulers who can wield stronger control of the population.
Our country was born with the foundation of democracy. Other countries have been able to adapt to democracy after centuries of monarchies or dictatorial or imperialist rule. But maybe democracy is not the answer for the Middle East. Is the exporting of democracy really worth hundreds of thousands of casualties in the next decade?

World Cup Impressions

I finally got the World Cup photos developed, so I thought I would share a few of them. These pictures were taken before and during the U.S. - Italy game in Kaiserslautern, a small city about a 2-hour drive south from Frankfurt.
The city was filled with soccer fans, and there was a Mardi Gras atmosphere in the streets with American and Italian flags competing for space above the heads of the crowd. Lark, Delene, Jennifer and I got there early to watch a couple of games before our game at 9pm Germany time. As we were walking to the stadium, we caught the tail end of the Ghana upset of the Czech Republic. This was a huge boost to U.S. morale, because we knew we could still advance to the 2nd Round if we could at least pull off a tie with Italy.
As we walked into the stadium, the atmosphere was electric. The closest thing I have ever experienced is a few Heavyweight Title Fights, but this was the most exciting sports event I had ever attended. We were only eight rows from the field right near the center line. The crowd was probably about half American and half Italian, but the U.S. cheers and chants drowned out the Italian contingent throughout the game.
When the national anthem started before the game, I sang louder than I have ever sung in my life. Something about wearing the U.S. colors in a semi-hostile environment and being the underdog really brought out my patriotism. I don't want to get all gushy, but I was truly proud to be an American at that moment.
Even before the game started, it felt like something special might happen, and the U.S. team outplayed the Italians from the opening kickoff. Unfortunately, the referee bought in to all of the Italian flops and started calling phantom fouls and handing out yellow cards left and right. The first and only Italian goal came from a free kick created by one of those phantom foul calls. Even though the U.S. fell behind early, you just had a feeling they were going to fight back.
Thanks to a lot of pressure from U.S. midfielders, the Americans got the ball into the Penalty Box just long enough to create an own goal by the Italians to tie it up. The U.S. players were so non-chalant about the goal, that we weren't even sure a goal had been scored, until the referee signaled that it had happened.
Then things got really crazy. An Italian player named Daniele De Rossi elbowed Brian McBride in the face, and opened a bleeding gash under his eye. The referee gave De Rossi a red card, the U.S. was up a man, and they were playing more aggressive than the Italians. We thought the game was in the bag.
Then, at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half, two U.S. players were ejected, and the U.S. had to play the rest of the game with only 9 men on the pitch. They spent the last 20 minutes of the game fending off shots from the Italians. Kasey Keller made so many saves that he was eventually named Man of the Match. The U.S. continued to outplay the Italians to the final whistle, but they could only manage to salvage a tie.
At the time, that tie felt like a victory considering the adverse conditions and the terrible officiating early in the game. We left the stadium knowing the U.S. still had a chance to advance if they could just beat Ghana. All of us felt that the U.S. would win that game if they played as hard and aggressive as they did against Italy.

So Much for Stopping Racism

Before the World Cup started, FIFA's biggest concern surrounding the tournament was the scattered incidents of racism that had occurred inside and outside some of the stadiums during the qualifying rounds. Mostly it was white fans yelling racial slurs at black players on opposing teams. As a result, before the start of every World Cup game, one player from each team would take a microphone at the center of the field and recite a pledge to Stop Racism in Soccer.

To the horror of FIFA officials, it now appears that one of the most memorable moments of the Cup was sparked by a racial comment. Although Zinedine Zidane has not confirmed it, his family and sources with the French team say that Italian player Marco Materazzi called Zidane "a dirty terrorist", referring to Zidane's Algerian heritage on his mother's side.

I don't know if that kind of insult really calls for a head-butt to the chest, but let's put this in perspective. If someone came up to you and head-butted you in the chest, you would NOT go flying off your feet and lie motionless on the ground for several minutes after the impact. At most, you would feel slight discomfort in your sternum and possibly break out in laughter at the sight of someone doing that to you. Congratulations to Materazzi for flopping just long enough to get the ref's attention, so he could look at the replay of the head-butt on the Jumbotron and issue a red card 5 minutes AFTER the incident happened. I'm not saying Zidane shouldn't have been ejected for his actions, but let's design a new Oscar-like golden statue for Best Actor in the Cup. Any number of Italian or Portugese players would have been eligible for the award. Unfortunately, they were also 2 of the 4 semifinalists.

Memo to Zidane: If somebody calls you a "dirty terrorist" on the street, do not try that head-butt to the chest move. Go for the bridge of the nose. It will deviate your opponent's septum and render him unconscious all at the same time. Just a little tip from me to you.

World Cup Predictions

Hi guys and gals,
Sorry to be out of touch during the World Cup trip, but I had no access to a computer during our whirlwind trip. I will be posting pictures of some of our stops and impressions of the tournament and trip as soon as our pictures are developed. Yes, I said developed. I'm still using a film camera. I know - it's so 1998.
Meanwhile, I'd love to know everyone's prediction for the final. While I would love to see the French win, I think it will be Italy 1 to 0 in the end. I don't see how even the magical Zidane can get past that back line of the Azzuri, and the French goalkeeper's unorthodox methods frighten me.
Knowing that the U.S. outplayed Italy in the first round and watching the Italians flop around to get foul calls is enough to make me a France supporter for the final, but I have a feeling the end result will have all of us French fans saying "sacrebleu"!