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| Middle East |
| Egypt: Cold-blooded, power-obsessed tyrants preferable to freedom |
| 2003-11-24 |
| Edited for digression. Hat tip LGF Columnist Bassyouni Al- Hilwani wrote in the Egyptian government weekly 'Aqidati: "It appears that the American president, Little Bush, relies on a group of hashish-smoking advisors. Not a week passes without him addressing the world with naive proposals, false and random accusations, and idiotic demands, as if he were living on a desert island with his spoiled dogs. al-Hellwhiney's lips fell off here. "Bush has forgotten that the Arab and Islamic peoples prefer to be ruled by a dictator such as Saddam Hussein than by a democratic president of the likes of Bush, who lies to the world every day, deceives his people, sows hatred towards it in the souls of all the peoples of the world, and annihilates the lives of his people in battles that do not concern them at all. Oh Mr. Bush, if you were a democratic president as you claim to be, you would abandon your post immediately and disperse all your Zionist aides and advisors, since your lies, your fraud, and the fact that you do not respect Iraqi and Afghan human rights have been exposed to the eyes of the entire world — particularly since your forces, your planes, and your missiles have executed more than 50,000 Iraqis and Afghans who sinned not at all towards you and your people." [3] 50000? That would explain that twang I heard, of a harp bursting a string. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher stated that Bush's address was misunderstood, and that Bush was in fact not criticizing Egyptian democracy but praising Egypt's leading role in democratization and Egypt's democracy as a model that should be applied in other countries in the region. This view was emphasized in an editorial in the Al-Ahram government daily: "The simplest rule of democracy is that it cannot be imposed from without. As first-year college students learn, and as is clearly evident in the Greek term from which the word is derived, democracy means that the people rules itself by itself and for itself. Thus, it is inconceivable that anyone external, whatever their intentions, can come to teach the peoples how to rule themselves! "That is better left to us tyrants." "Recently, voices have arisen in the American government demanding direct intervention in order to impose democracy on the peoples and on the governments, as if the peoples were minors or mentally retarded and needed their hands held! These demands are in themselves a violation of the rules of democracy. This intervention is reminiscent of the abhorrent idea of previous centuries regarding the white man's responsibility for the other peoples, for liberating them from ignorance and backwardness. The result was that this white man maintained colonialism of these peoples for centuries, and this caused the backwardness from which they [the Americans] want to rescue us today! What short legs this guy has! "The fact that Egypt is marching on the path of democracy demands no proof. It is impossible to cast doubts on [the fact that] this land enjoys freedom of the press that is nonexistent in many countries of the world. Likewise, no one can cast doubts on [the fact that] Egypt has a great many political parties and freedom of expression. Naturally, there is always striving to achieve more, as this is the law of life: but it is clear that importing ready-made, packaged democracy — 'turnkey democracy' — will be of no benefit to this deeply-rooted people. "And besides, democracy's a Jewish plot!" "Our people, whose civilization is 7,000 years old, does not expect, and does not need to expect, others to give it lessons in democracy or in anything else. Therefore, attempts to impose democracy from without will fail." [4] Then he turned into a pillar of NaCl and could say no more. Continuing in the same vein as Foreign Minister Maher, an editorial in the government daily Al-Gumhouriyya discussed the possibility of exporting the Egyptian democratic model to other countries in the region: "There is no doubt that in the next phase, Egypt will be witness to more than the democracy it is experiencing under Mubarak's rule, [and this will come about] of its own free will [as opposed to imposition from without]. [This democracy] can be a model for implementation for other countries interested in democracy, as a way of development and welfare." [5] |
| Posted by:Atrus |
| #7 "Bush has forgotten that the Arab and Islamic peoples prefer to be ruled by a dictator such as Saddam Hussein.. Haahahahaha, hey, if these idiots like being ruled by brutal dictators, more power to 'em. All I ask is that they aim their vitriol somewhere else, and find some other scapegoat for their damn problems. A good start would be for them to take a look in the mirror. Quite frankly, I'm tired of all the bullshit coming out of that part of the world. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-11-24 9:23:23 PM |
| #6 No, actually I don't. I figure about another ten years. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2003-11-24 6:07:46 PM |
| #5 These fatheads STILL don't get it: we're busting our balls to introduce them to democracy now so our children or grandchildren won't have to solve the goddamn problem later by incinerating half a billion Arabs in a nuclear firestorm. You really think it'll take that long? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-11-24 5:31:39 PM |
| #4 Problem is that he is right that MOST Arabs care not who rules them. The main concern is putting some food on the table and making sure little Mohammad get off to school in the morning. They get ALL of their news from the Government (people like this one) and the government tells them Jews Bad, Bush bad, Democracy Bad, etc. Look at the way the Nazi controlled all aspects of German life and you get a good picture of the ‘typical’ Arab state. Sure they know of people that ‘disappear’ in the middle of the night, but they were critical of the government. What you have here is almost total indoctrination and NO outlet for dissent. Why do Anti-American/Israeli/Christian rallies garner so much support? They are Rock concerts for these people and the best part is that they get to perform too! |
| Posted by: Natalie Maines 2003-11-24 4:41:22 PM |
| #3 "The fact that Egypt is marching on the path of democracy demands no proof..." Yeah, I remember that nail-biter a couple of years ago between Mubarak and... who was the other guy? |
| Posted by: Matt 2003-11-24 4:35:19 PM |
| #2 This really belongs under a "Some People Never Learn" category! Seems to me that the Israelites' GOD put a whuppin on Pharoah, and moved all the Israelites out of Egypt some 5-6000 years ago. IIRC, Bush claims to worship the same God, and calls on Him for help rather often. THAT would be enough for most normal men to get a little shakey in the knees, not dribbly at the mouth. Maybe these descendents of sand fleas need another few lessons in history, so they can gain a bit of wisdom. I'm sure George Junior would gladly oblige, if they ask for it enough. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-24 4:28:49 PM |
| #1 These fatheads STILL don't get it: we're busting our balls to introduce them to democracy now so our children or grandchildren won't have to solve the goddamn problem later by incinerating half a billion Arabs in a nuclear firestorm. Times like this, I think we should have responded to 9/11 by nuking, within a few hours of the WTC's fall, a half-dozen large military installations in selected Arab countries. It would've gotten the point across a helluva lot quicker than what we're doing now. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2003-11-24 4:24:57 PM |