Transcript for April 2

The president’s dream is democracy, around the world and the Middle East. What happens to countries like Iraq, countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, or in the Palestine area when Hamas is elected?  Does democracy necessarily bring about a desired result from America’s security interests?

GEN. ZINNI: Well, first of all, you have to understand how you instill democracy. It isn’t an election. An election doesn’t equal democracy. Think about it. We need an educated electorate. We need political parties that are transparent, that people understand their platforms, that compete in a fair process. We have to have a governmental system that people are voting into, and they have to understand that, and then you can have elections. We’ve sort of reversed the process.

Look what’s happened in Iraq. We’ve had three elections now, and we don’t have a government yet that can stand up. There aren’t people that, I think, really understood what they voted for. I saw a scene in Basra, one of the elections, where a woman ran in so excited about voting, and then she asked the poll tender, “Who do I vote for?” And he told her she—he couldn’t tell her, but he had to read a list to her of 169 parties. She was confused. When he hit number seven that said the Islamic party of something or other, she said, “That’s the one.” I mean, is that democracy?  Are they voting how they’re told at, at Friday prayers?  Are they voting for sectarian leaders that dominate their lives?  Do they truly understand what it’s all about?

It’s not just democracy. It’s economic development. It’s social reform. This takes time, takes an investment from the stable part of the world and the unstable part of the world to establish these.

MR. RUSSERT: General Tony Zinni, we thank you for joining us.

GEN. ZINNI: Thank you, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT: Thank you for “Battle for Peace.” And we’ll be watching.

GEN. ZINNI: Thank you, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT: We’ll be right back.

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