WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT DEMOCRACY?

President Bush has been running about the world pushing this thing called "democracy." He seems to feel that the USA will be better off if surrounded by countries which vote their leaders into office. He seems to feel that democracies are nice to each other and hard on dictatorships.

Is he right?

Not according to history.

During the entire Cold War, the largest democracy in the world allied itself with the Soviet Union and against the USA. India had its reasons, needing to depend on the Soviets to protect them from nasty, land-losing wars with China. In India's case, national self-interest clearly trumped democracy.

The French have democracy, plenty of it. Yet their leaders from De Gaulle to Mitterand to current President Chirac have opposed American interests. De Gaulle pulled the French out of NATO during the height of the Cold War, when the West was most vulnerable to a Soviet attack. Chirac rallied the United Nations Security Council to oppose the U.S.'s invasion of Iraq.

The rotund and happy burgomasters in German elected Gerhard Schroeder President when he campaigned in opposition to President Bush, the Iraq war and America in general. He quickly allied himself with Chirac in attempting to create a Euro constitution which would make Europe a counterweight and powerful rival to America. Fortunately, the French saw Chirac for what he really was and humiliated him by voting down the constitution.

When Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia, President Bush met him and "looked into his soul." What the American President did not notice was that Putin's soul had "KGB" stamped all over it. In the past years, Putin has moved to make Russia far less democratic while centralizing control in his own hands. He has also used Russia's abundant supplies of natural gas and oil to suborn democracy in former Soviet Republics. Now he has allied himself with China and against U.S. interests.

When Venezuela elected Hugo Chavez president, they unleashed the biggest America hater this side of Fidel Castro. Now Chavez and Castro are buddy-buddy, bartering oil for Cuban "health workers." Chavez is dropping all kinds of hints that he will seek to hurt American oil interests in his country. He claims that Cuba, Bolivia and Venezuela should for an "axis of good."

Bolivia has just elected Evo Morales President, a firebrand favoring red-striped sweaters instead of business suits. He quickly irritated Washington by calling for the nationalization of natural gas and the protection of the cocoa growers who produce the raw material for cocaine. He toured South America, making especially nice on Venezuela's Chavez while attacking "neoliberalism" and "imperialism" -- both code words for U.S. policy. In gratitude, Chavez has promised him oodles of money and oil.

Chile has newly elected Michelle Bachelet as its President, the first female president in South American history who got there on her own, and not through widowhood. She promises to continue the fiscal policies which have helped Chile grow. But she took a great deal of campaign money from Hugo Chavez and he will want something in return.

One of the worst examples of democratic elections was the surprise win of Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who ran against corruption. Surprising everyone, including the powerful ayatollahs, Ahmadinejad promised to "wipe Israel off the face of the map." With Iran's push to develop atomic energy, the new President's rant set off huge alarm bells from Paris to Israel to China. His remarks did not make Washington very happy either.

Democratic elections are no friend of the U.S. when so many people in the world seem to hate us.

What we need right now are a few friendly dictatorships like Egypt and Pakistan.

Their people may hate us, but their dictators love us.