Spreading Democracy Around the World

In seconding President Bush’s policy of promoting democracy only where U.S. “vital interests” are served, Charles Edel (“Exporting Democracy Is Not for the Naive,” Opinion, Feb. 27) does nothing to meet the criticism that the U.S. is “pursuing crass commercial interests beneath a mantle of democratic self-righteousness” that Edel himself notes. If we promote democracy only where we benefit financially and strategically, the implication is that elections will be tolerated only if the results suit U.S. interests -- regardless of what the people themselves want. This fits only too well our actual policy of subverting democracies around the world that criticized the U.S.

If we are serious about supporting democracies internationally, we need to work with organizations such as the United Nations that have this goal, where power is shared and benefits go to everyone.

Charles Crittenden

Lake View Terrace

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Democracy is exactly the kind of potato that can be transplanted from one kitchen garden to another. Democracy has sprung from the imagination and innate aspirations of the world’s population from ancient Greece to ancient Native Americans of the Six Nations in the Northeast to the Western Europeans of the Enlightenment.

Democracy is a fundamental human concept worth the energy, treasure and blood of nations that enjoy it to invest in its propagation in kitchen gardens everywhere. And like the potato, it will thrive and improve the lives of everyone around the world.

Tom O’Connor

Rancho Cucamonga