I refer to Arbibi Ashoy's letter entitled Secure primary rights before secondary ones .

The writer makes several false assertions in trying to put forward his rebuttal against Western model democratic systems of governance. For example:

  • "Sunnis and Shias are only killing each other in Iraq. In no other country is there deadly clashes between these long-time sworn enemies that emerged from one of Islam's earliest schisms."

Truth: Only a few days ago, there were deadly bombings in several cities across Pakistan as a result of the ongoing tensions between these mortal enemies around the annual Shia festival of Ashoura . The bombings and killings are a regular annual feature especially around this festival.

Note: Pakistan is not under US allied occupation or "divide and rule". So the US and its allies cannot be blamed for the Shia-Sunni antagonisms that are centuries old and predate the current US policy debacle in Iraq. Furthermore the arc of Sunni-Shia tension extends far beyond the borders of Iraq, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Indian subcontinent.

  • "The acid test for Western-style democracy is happening in Iraq"

Truth: The only acid test that is going on in Iraq is the failure of the US government's neo-conservative's ideology of nation-building. Iraq is not a test of Western democracy, it is a test for failure in US foreign policy in the post 9/11 era. Let's not mix up the two.

If you want acid tests of Western democracy consider Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and dare I say, Indonesia - all formerly feudal societies which have moved on to a better system of governance which have improved the lot of their population.

I have purposely left out Malaysia because it has regressed from the true spirit of Western democracy which it inherited at independence and only retains a veneer of that system thanks to many years of gradual erosion through the machinations of our political elite.

I was really hoping for a bit more balanced comment from Mr Ashoy but it seems that spin is not the sole monopoly of politicians these days.