Dictators: A Necessary Evil?

Considering the ongoing problems in Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Syria etc, with religious extremism as the root cause for most of the killings, you can’t help but wonder if dictators do serve a useful purpose in certain countries. The U.S. lost the lives of many troops and spent millions if not billions to topple Saddam Hussein, all with the idea of bringing freedom and democracy to the people of Iraq. The people in Iraq, without a dictator to keep the radicals in check, are now killing each other. Is the situation any better in Libya with Gadhafi gone? Will Syrians really benefit with freedom without Assad? They got rid of Mubarak in Egypt and look at them now.

We in western society enjoy a level of freedom that is not only unknown in some parts of the world but is also unwanted by many. Centuries of tribal and competing religious factions cannot be changed by simply toppling dictators. Even though western motivations may be well intended, or self-serving from an economic perspective, they are rarely effective over the longer term. Perhaps it is time to step back and rethink our notion of bringing freedom to those parts of the world that is neither prepared nor willing to move in that direction. When we will learn?