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| Arabia | |
| the times they are a changing! | |
| 2004-03-26 | |
| this a very interesting but very long article. so just go to link. you guys should like it cuz it about arabian. time to go shave the beard. These are days of heady promises, when kings and despots are making emphatic gestures of reform. There are petition drives in Syria and Saudi Arabia and women's rights negotiations in the United Arab Emirates. Human rights initiatives are suddenly being aired by members of oppressive regimes. Saddam Hussein's fall unsettled Arab leaders by demonstrating that the United States is willing to do away with hostile regimes. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said it best: We must shave our beards, he warned, before others shave them for us. But behind the gestures of political change, contradictions and resentment are as thick and dark as the pools of oil under Saudi sands. One year after the campaign to oust Hussein, other regimes have lost their sense of invulnerability and appear uncertain of the new order. Pro-democracy reformists from Damascus to Dubai took strength from the disintegration of the Iraqi regime — but also were saddled with the poisonous label of American sympathizer... ...more
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| Posted by:muck4doo |
| #4 The author conspicuously fails to make one of his own best points. Cynics found proof of their suspicions in the spectacle of Moammar Kadafi, Libya's eccentric despot and a longtime foe of the United States. Late last year, Kadafi agreed to pay settlements to Libya's terrorism victims, renounced weapons of mass destruction and welcomed weapons inspectors. "Kadafi never became democratic — he just gave up his arms and then he became a friend," said Diaa Rashwan, an Egyptian analyst. "So the Arab regimes know the game is clear." For America's forceful claims of democratic superiority to be taken seriously in the Middle East, Libya must institute representative government as a mandatory part of Kadafi's readmission fee into world politics. If the United States is seen to congratulate itself solely for the questionable success of retrenching a reformed dictator's repressive autocracy, we will have lost much face on the Arab street. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-05 9:55:15 AM |
| #3 [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted] |
| Posted by: Anonymous TROLL 2004-03-26 8:20:43 PM |
| #2 Cool one Muck!! |
| Posted by: Evert Visser in NL 2004-03-26 4:28:40 PM |
| #1 and just proves skerry's point - iraq has nothing to do with WOT----yea whatever! |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-03-26 3:09:30 PM |