This is why I've gone on so much about promoting rule of law in Iraq (tip to Instapundit):
Recent events in Turkey ought remind us, if we needed reminding, that freedom and parliamentary democracy are not identical, though many people mistake the one for the other. But if by parliamentary democracy we mean merely government legitimated by a majority of the votes every few years, there is no reason why such democracy should not lead to tyranny.
Of course, it is helpful for our clarity of purpose to have democracies even if they become tyrannies of the majority that become aggressive. When dealing with tyrannies of a minority, it is too easy for Westerners to say we shouldn't fight the tyrannies because their unfortunate people have nothing to do with the actions of the government. At least with tyrannies of the majority, nobody can say the government doesn't act in their name--or with their acceptance.
