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Arabs Say Bush Words Are Pretty in Someone Else’s Mouth
As Jonah Goldberg says: "wasn’t this a line in Deliverance?"
In calling for more democracy in the Middle East, President Bush echoed what many Arabs have said for years. But with Bush as the messenger, many were skeptical that the United States would push for real change in the region’s autocratic rule. The speech Thursday in Washington, televised throughout the Arab world, also provoked resentment
what else - Arabs seething
since many Arabs believe his government manufactured reasons to wage war on Iraq and regularly sides unfairly with Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians.
Cuz the Joooos ain’t worthless Islamonazis imposing mayhem, theocracy, and anti-american hatred everywhere
In its Friday edition, a signed editorial in the leading Lebanese daily An-Nahar described the speech as "very attractive words" but said that "before they become tangible policies that deal with the real problems, they will continue to be boring, empty rhetoric."
In a signed boring empty rhetorical editorial, the Lebanese paper said...
"Exposing the region’s ills is useless. We already know them. ... What is required is a realization that the underlying problem continues to be Palestine and the obscene American bias for Israel and against Arabs, their interests and hopes," wrote columnist Sahar Baasiri.
"We know what’s wrong, we’re just to ingrained with victimhood, honor/shame, and pig-headed stubbornness to want to do anything about it."
Lebanon’s left-wing daily As-Safir commented that Bush’s speech "lacked the practical and necessary suggestions for achieving his vision for the region." There was no official reaction from Middle Eastern governments, and little public response, since the speech came after dark in the Middle East when Muslims are breaking their daylight fast in the holy month of Ramadan — and on the eve of the Islamic day of prayer, when many newspapers do not publish. But political analysts said Bush’s plea would ring true with advocates of democracy who for years, even decades, have demanded an end to autocratic governments and corrupt politics. "Bush is reading the situation correctly — there is a great need for greater democratic reform across the Middle East," Gehad Auda, a political scientist at Egypt’s Helwan University, said in a telephone interview. The analysts also said, however, that Arabs were likely to react more to the speaker than to the speech.
Pavlov’s Arabs
"Arabs want democracy. They hate their corrupt regimes more than they hate the United States," wrote Abdul Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of the London-based Arabic daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi. "But," he added, "they are not going to listen attentively to the speech of the American president, first, because the consecutive American administrations, in the past 50 years, supported those regimes ... and because all true democracies in the world came as a result of internal struggle, not due to foreign intervention, particularly American."
He's talking about Japan and Germany and Italy... Oh. Guess he isn't. Never mind.
Bush did say in his speech that Western governments had been wrong for decades in backing undemocratic, corrupt leaders in the Middle East. He had praise for steps toward democracy taken by some Arab governments — generally U.S. allies — and renewed his criticism of what he regards as despotic rule in Iran and Syria.
That's 'cuz they're... ummm... despots.
In Iran, the media made no mention of Bush’s address. The one newspaper published Friday in Syria also ignored it, though Syrians could easily have seen it, because it was broadcast on the pan-Arab television network Al-Jazeera. Syrian political analysts reacted with the usual dismissal of American criticism. "How can we believe that the one who is biased in favor of Israel ... can bring acceptable democratic projects to the people of the region?" said analyst Imad Fawzi al-Shueibi.
"And we believe it even less 'cuz we're the despots he's talking about. He's gotta be wrong. Somewhere..."
In the United Arab Emirates, the Sharjah-based daily Al-Khaleej saw the American leader’s address as just an excuse to continue the same old U.S. policies. "Swamping the Arab region with talk about democracy, terrorism, and dictatorship will overtake any talk about the Zionist (Israeli) massacres and the necessity of stopping them, and the Iraqi occupation that should come to an end," the paper’s editorial said.
"Our minds are one-track and one-track only. How can anyone expect us to do anything while the Zionists rule? Do more than one thing at a time? It's a Zionist concept!"
The few people out on the street who were willing to speak publicly about the speech echoed the mixed feelings of political analysts. In the Jordanian capital Amman, businessman Khalid Salim said: "I support completely President Bush’s speech concerning democracy in the Middle East and hope that his words will take effect soon." But in the Syrian capital Damascus, 37-year-old worker Ali Rida said Bush’s talk of democracy didn’t conceal the true U.S. policy in the region. "If they want to export democracy through wars, we do not want it," he said. "Let them keep it to themselves."
"Assad, we will defend you with our blood!"
I’d say those comments typify why the Middle East is a stinking pustule of hatred, willful ignorance, and shame....
Posted by: Frank G 2003-11-07
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=20930