Frankly, I think theocratic states are repressive regimes no matter what religion they are spouting off about. When individuals must line up and believe in the same god, it means someone is oppressed. Take a look at Saudi Arabia, Iran, Israel, and countries that base law on the Bible, the Torah, or the Koran. Even countries that have official religions for their kings can be obnoxious.
Now, I also believe that a turn around has to come from the grassroots people. If they want change, they need to do it without an imperial force there. Real change comes from the people. You cannot force democracy on people who are not ready for it.
Now, that brings me to why we are fighting a bunch of stupid wars all over the middle east and trying to get involved in another other one in Iran. I heard the ambassador to the UN saying that we should fight the Taliban. Why? Did they do 911? No. Then why are we there? They say we should fight extremists in Pakistan. Why? Did they do 911? What do I care about these extreme guys in Pakistan? The US aided them to expand in the first place. Why would dabbling around in religion now help us? We should just butt out of other people's business for once.
As Mr. Spock used to say, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
I would reword this to say, "The needs of the many outweigh the greed of the few."
