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?