布什政府辩解说推进民主所付出的高昂代价和风险大大低于容许独裁现状在中东无限期延续所付出的代价，这种说法也许有一定的道理。
The Bush administration may be correct in arguing that the extremely high costs and risks of promoting democracy are less than the costs and risks of allowing the authoritarian status quo in the Middle east to persist indefinitely.