(State's Burns and Craner reject myth of "Muslim exception") (1120) By Ralph Dannheisser Washington File Special Correspondent Washington -- Two key State Department officials have promised committed U.S. help in promoting the development of democracy in the Muslim world. An outmoded myth that Muslims are incapable of handling democracy has been discarded for good, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns and Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Lorne Craner said May 16 in Washington at a two-day conference sponsored by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. What form democracy takes cannot be imposed from outside, but rather must be determined by the people in each country, Burns and Craner stressed in their talks at the annual conference sponsored by the four-year-old democracy advocacy group. Burns said U.S. officials have given new urgency to the job of opening up political systems in the Middle East. Promoting democracy in the Middle East must be carried out as "an integral part of a broader strategy that seeks with equal vigor to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; build a stable, prosperous, democratic Iraq; and modernize regional economies," he said. Democratization, best carried out gradually, must go beyond conducting elections and encompass "the whole painful, difficult, evolutionary and sometimes risky process of building sound institutions, the rule of law and vibrant civil societies," Burns said. The U.S. diplomat stressed that, while the process "cannot be sustained by outside preaching or prescriptions," there is nevertheless "lots that the United States and others in the community of democratic nations can do to help support home-grown reform." Burns, who has been in the U.S. foreign service for 21 years, said that in all that time the United States had not paid adequate attention to "the long-term importance of opening up some very stagnant political systems, especially in the Arab world." But U.S. officials now believe that, quite beyond supporting American values and basic human rights, such efforts have become "a matter of hard-headed American interests," he said. "Stability is not a static phenomenon, and political systems which do not find ways to gradually accommodate the aspirations of their people become brittle and combustible," Burns declared. Rejecting the idea of what he termed "a kind of Arab or Muslim exceptionalism on this score," Burns said the unique nature of Arab societies and the challenges they face "doesn't mean that they are incapable of democratic change." "Assuming otherwise is both flawed analysis and a dangerous basis for policy," he said. Burns acknowledged that the emergence of more democratic systems in the Islamic world will not necessarily make it easier for the United States to get its way on particular issues. He cited Turkey's "disappointing reaction" in rejecting U.S. basing requests during the Iraq crisis. Still, he said, officials from the president on down believe that "it is profoundly in our long-term interest to support democratic change." While promising maximum leeway to countries developing their unique democratic forms, Burns cited three elements that U.S. officials consider critical. First, he said, Arab states must facilitate the ability of the institutions of independent civil society -- independent media, citizens' advocacy groups and women's organizations among them -- to perform their roles. Second, Arab states must reduce "corruption and cronyism" in their government systems and work toward the rule of law "through more effective, independent judicial systems and more lawful and humane police forces and prisons." And third, Arab leaders must strive to make elections "more inclusive and more fair," Burns said, deeming regular, free elections a necessary -- though not sufficient -- condition of democracy. With the United States now committed to advancing the process of democratization, Burns said, "a time of crisis can become a turning point...in which hope begins to replace the despair on which violent extremists breed." Making many of the same points in a talk at the group's banquet dinner, the assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor said that support for democratic reform in the Muslim world has "moved to the very top of our agenda" -- at least in part -- because of the terrorist attacks on U.S. targets on September 11, 2001. "This approach is not solely the result of September 11...but September 11 did catalyze the process and move the doubters in our government to their proper place. The same three-decade-long approach to the Middle East specifically and the Muslim world in general is no longer tenable," Craner said. "There is no longer a Middle East exception." He said that, in prior decades, many had doubted that democracy could take root in Latin America, or in East Asia -- both regions that now boast large numbers of democratic governments. "The skeptics are wrong here (in the Muslim world) as they have been wrong before," he said. Craner pointed to recent progress toward openness in countries from Bahrain, where women not only voted but ran for office in elections last year, to Qatar, which approved a new constitution, to Jordan, where parliamentary elections are scheduled for June -- and "even" Saudi Arabia, whose Crown Prince Abdullah has proposed reforms for both his nation and the broader Arab world. "If you remember only one thing from my talk tonight," Craner told his heavily Muslim audience, "remember this: the United States has for many reasons made the commitment to freedom in the region, and we will stick with it." "The United States stands with you in words and now in deed, and you will see our actions speak for our sincerity," he declared. Asked during a brief question and answer session whether the United States would apply its pro-democracy approach to friendly nations like Egypt as well as nations identified with what President Bush has termed the "Axis of Evil," Craner replied, "You don't have to be an "Axis of Evil" country to be eligible for our new democracy policy." It has become increasingly obvious to policymakers that the status quo is not stable, and "it's clear that we're not just talking about Iraq or Syria," Craner said. "The message we have given to Mr. Mubarak (Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak) is that he and his government need to get moving on democracy, they need to get moving on institutional reform and they need to get moving on releasing individual prisoners. "He is getting the same message that every other government in the Middle East is getting. He may not have gotten it before 9-11," Craner said, "but he's getting it now."