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My guess is that the U.S. and Iraq see these elements of socialism as a stabilizing force within the fledgling democracy. It's harder to incorporate those things in an already existing and older democracy such as at home in the U.S. It's the change that people are afraid of more than anything, and it's a completely human thing. Most of us fear change.
However, the case of Iraq is different. The change from despot, to anarchy, to democracy, to social democracy, or whatever, I imagine to be a welcome thing. So much extreme change over so short a time, and in a direction that seeks to uphold the rights of all individuals rather than just one.
It's a tough comparison to make.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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