» To Bush, Iraq’s path to democracy akin to America’s

To Bush, Iraq’s path to democracy akin to America’s

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To Bush, Iraq’s path to democracy akin to America’s

Iraq’s struggles to forge a democratic future are comparable to the troubles the United States had while establishing its own constitutional government. And by helping the Iraqis overcome their problems, America serves its own security interests by spreading freedom in a troubled area of the world.

Those are key comparisons President Bush made Monday during the third in a series of speeches leading up to Iraq’s elections on Thursday. (Read the transcript.) This address focused on Iraq’s nascent political process itself - a process that has stumbled and produced internal division, yet also provided the inspiring sight of millions of Iraqis defying danger to vote in preliminary elections earlier this year.

The vote on Thursday won’t be perfect, and is far from the end of the electoral process. But “millions of Iraqis will put their lives on the line this Thursday in the name of freedom and democracy,” the president said in an address to the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia.

More: csmonitor.com

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