Is Bush Spreading Mideast Democracy?

Not according to Juan Cole, professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan. A snippet: "Bush's invasion of Iraq has left the center and north of the country in a state of long-term guerrilla war. It has also opened Iraq to a form of parliamentary politics dominated by Muslim fundamentalists. This combination has little appeal elsewhere in the region."
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/03/16/democracy/index.html

An old favorite, Arianna Huffington, makes a similar argument. I'd encourage you to read her column before Juan Cole's, as her writing is considerably more lively: "I just got back from a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. Didn't ride the Teacups, though. Because I wasn't in Disneyland but in Washington, D.C., where everyone is walking on air, swept away by the Beltway's latest consensus: President Bush was right on Iraq, and, as a result, Tomorrowland in the Middle East will feature an E-ticket ride on the Matterhorn of freedom and democracy."
http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/column.php?id=763