No, it’s the grievances themselves that are the root of the problem. In most Arab countries, the authoritarian leadership is in some ways more liberal than the majority of the citizenry. And as bad as these regimes are – and we coddle and enable many of them – almost every time the democratic process has been tried in the Islamic world, it’s produced more extremism and factional violence, not less. So which nation does the president propose would benefit most from more democracy? Pakistan? Iraq? Saudi Arabia? Jordan? How would Christians and Alawites fare in a democratic Syria, do you think?

Perhaps as well as minorities do in a democratic Libya, a place Obama argued Americans had to intervene militarily or the “democratic impulses that are dawning across the region would be eclipsed by the darkest form of dictatorship.” Turns out that democratic impulses can also lead to darkness. There is no Gadhafi regime, but there is anarchy, a fertile recruiting ground for terrorists and a country where Copts can be executed without too many hassles and American consulates can be sacked without any repercussion. All of it enabled, in part, by the president’s unauthorized war (and Congress’ implicit approval of that war) that was meant to help facilitate democracy.