MB Civic

By David Ignatius | Friday, November 24, 2006 | The Washington Post

Political analyst and longtime war correspondent David Ignatius is intimately familiar with the Middle East, having lived and worked there for many years as a foreign correspondent for the Washington Post based in Beirut. Without stealing too much of his good stuff, the opening paragraph summarizes the essay crisply and well:

“A disease is eating away at the Middle East. It afflicts the Syrians, the Iraqis, the Lebanese, even the Israelis. It is the idea that the only political determinant in the Arab world is raw force — the power of physical intimidation. It is politics as assassination.”

Depressing, yes. Original, oh yeah. Eloquent, you bet – Ignatius at his best. And more than that: this piece is right on target when Ignatius refuses to give in to despair and charges each country with the reponsibility to address the fundamental problem: the absence of the rule of law. Establishing meaningful law enforcement is Job One, and it is ultimately the responsibility of each of these nations to choose the rule of the sword or the rule of justice…BS

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/23/AR2006112300895.html