Playing the Democracy Card Playing the Democracy Card The United
States flaunts the banner of democracy in the Middle East only
when that advances its economic, military, or strategic
interests. The history of the past six decades shows that
whenever there has been conflict between furthering democracy in
the region and advancing American national interests, U.S.
administrations have invariably opted for the latter course.
Furthermore, when free and fair elections in the Middle East
have produced results that run contrary to Washington's
strategic interests, it has either ignored them or tried to
block the recurrence of such events. Washington's active
involvement in the region began in 1933 when Standard Oil
Company of California bid ten times more than the British-
dominated Iraq Petroleum Company for exclusive petroleum
exploration rights in Saudi Arabia's eastern Hasa province. As a
leading constituent of Allied forces in World War II, the U.S.
got its break in Iran after the occupation of that country by