Perhaps the Bush administration could learn something by studying the history of the only Muslim country in the world that has truly become a successful partner in the Western family of nations.Turkey, bridging Europe and the Middle East, has fully renounced Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. Its government and the vast majority of its citizens are uninfected by the mental illness of Islamofascism.

Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, a general who successfully won full independence for his country after it was defeated in World War I and occupied by the Allies. Unlike President Bush, Attaturk was smart enough to realize that his country’s top priority was not achieving democracy and freedom, but the need to develop a strong economy and rid itself of Islamic fundamentalism. Attaturk reasoned that Turkey would never become a modern, successful country if it continued to be dominated by Islamic fundamentalism, which did not (and does not) promote or value economic productivity or secular education.

The Turkish president also realized that he could never abolish Islamic fundamentalism through democratic means. A majority of people would never agree to vanquish the ideology with which they had been infused since birth.

So Attaturk created a dictatorship, and enforced his decrees by force. He abolished the position of caliph, a religious figure that had previously exercised political power over the country, and took many measures to separate mosque from state. He also empowered the army to crush all opposition to his dictates, and ordered mass executions of rebels. Many rebels were quickly tried by judges that were loyal to Attaturk and his program.

More than 80 years later, Turkey has its problems in many spheres of life, but its economy, political structure, and overall society are by far the most advanced of any Muslim country, and it is a staunch, anti-terrorist ally of the West.

The lessons for modern-day Iraq are obvious. Emphasizing “freedom” and democracy in Iraq will only keep the religious fundamentalists in power. Freedom and democracy will continue to enable Iranians, Baathists, al-Qaeda, and other Islamic fundamentalists to continue fomenting terrorism and sectarian violence, making the Iraqi people slaves to chaos and mass murder. In this environment, freedom is only an illusion.

Before it is too late, the US needs to find a modern Iraqi Attaturk, a dictator who realizes that his country must forcefully stamp out religious fundamentalism in order to achieve any semblance of stability and prosperity. Of course, like Attaturk, this dictator must want the Iraqi economy to be modernized and his people to prosper. He must be pro-Western and pro-American, and he must be a US ally in the War on Terror. Embracing such a strong leader would allow us to withdraw our troops in the near future.

After Islamic fundamentalism and the forces of Islamofascism are wiped out in Iraq, the country can gradually become democratic. But until these goals are accomplished, freedom, democracy, and leniency will just produce chaos, death, and violence.

After all of the administration’s talk about the need for freedom and democracy in Iraq, it is probably too late for the US to overtly embrace a benevolent dictator in the mold of Attaturk. But that does not mean we cannot covertly find and support such a leader.