Arab politics and accountability.

The following is an interesting and important point though the Colonel finds it only partially explains the backwardness of Arab societies. Centuries have passed and a great many Arab governments have come and gone and the reason the region has failed to advance or mount even the puniest of challenges to Western incursions is because of . . . a lack of accountability?

Uhn uh.

The major problem is the ubiquitous societal inability to break free of the certain knowledge that each comma of the Koran is divinely placed and immune from adaptive or ameliorative interpretation. The glue that perhaps holds this aberrant view in place is the unholy terror that the Arab male experiences at the thought of losing his privileged position in his community vis-a-vis women, not the least of which perks is his Koranically-sanctioned right to whale the tar out of any one of his four wives or innumerable "temporary" wives. His Allah-given right, that is, to pound them ad libitum.

Anyway, here's Mr. Rubin's useful insight into the problem, which certainly explains a great deal in terms of modern Arab politics, if not Arab society:

The greatest impediment to progress in the Arab world is not terrorism or Islamism; both are recent phenomena. Rather, it is lack of accountability. Instead of accepting responsibility for lack of progress, many Arab regimes blame outsiders. In 2002, the U.N.'s Arab Development Report found that the Arab region has the lowest value of all regions of the world for "voice and accountability." In his seminal article "Why Arabs Lose Wars," Col. Norvell De Atkine, an observer of Arab military training, found that "taking responsibility . . . rarely occurs." Arab soldiers seldom admit, let alone learn from, mistakes.

"Iraqi Beacon. Message to the Arab world: Democracy works." By Michael Rubin, Wall Street Journal, 12/14/05 (emphasis added).