Why Democracy?

If I've posted this before, posting it again just shows how desperate of an issue it is. Or, rather, how desperate of an issue it should be.

First World countries and the UN (mainly via resolutions) are more than happy to give lip service to the ideals of democracy, with powerful countries (namely Britain and the U.S.) actually going out of their way to ensure a democratic succession. Examples include the U.S. support of Fidel Castro, bin Laden, the Taliban, and various regimes in South America and Southeast Asia, and indirect actions that led to the rise of the Kuomintang, Ayatollah Khomeini, etc. The U.S. loved them initially because they spoke out against communism and hates them today because they have clearly revealed themselves as non-democratic.

But I want to know: why is democracy so important? It seems like we've had the Cold War and McCarthy morals so deeply ingrained into our persona as a country that we've forgotten not every country in the world necessarily approves of our system of government, nor is our system of government the best one for all countries.

America itself forgets its origins as a mercantilist colony dependent on the benefices of Great Britain, able to eventually break free because of its strong financial foundation in trade and, of course, France's deep hatred of everything that might help Britain.

We didn't jump straight to democracy. It took us the Articles of Confederation's disastrous freedoms and shadowy threats of reabsorption into another European state, as well as a guarantee of the kind of rights most Westerners place first, to force the passage of the Constitution.

Today, however, we--alright, the government--honestly believe(s) that, by supervising the fomentation of a democratic system in other countries, their future security and growth into a First World country--and ally of the U.S.--is ensured.

And yet all we needed was some time with the great philosophical conclusions of the Age of Enlightenment and a little help from France....

Why is the U.S. so determined to see democracy form immediately in countries like Iraq and Iran (and U.S. actions in the 1950s are actually to blame for the current Islamic regime)? Such a destiny is not to be seen in any Western countries, nor is it a sort of development native to the ancient region of Mesopotamia. Throughout the 1700s and 1800s, Slavophiles insisted that Russia, because of its unique placement between the West and the East, had to develop in a uniquely Russian way. And now, the United States wants to deny this same right to the Middle East, holder of the Silk Road and frequent enemy of the West since the Roman Empire.

WTF?