Bush, Obama Take Two Different Approaches to Muslim Democracy
Modernity and globalism were visited upon these countries as well, and yet they have succeeded in bringing liberty and prosperity to their people without resorting to hateful terrorism in the name of Allah.
Obama continued:
Each nation gives life to this principle [democracy] in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. … America does not presume what is best for everyone.
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From Obama’s words, are we to conclude that treating women as second-class citizens and excluding most of them from political life and the workforce is a fair and acceptable tradition because “each nation gives life to this principle in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its people”? In his partiality towards Arabs and Muslims, President Obama ignored the fact that there are universal standards for human rights and democratic behavior which are clearly outlined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and they are more grossly abused in the Arab-Muslim world than by any other group, region, or people on the globe.
Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Obama went on to give Syria a free pass by ignoring its subversion of democracy in Lebanon and the murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Meanwhile, he appeased Iran’s theocratic dictatorship, saying:
I recognize it will be hard to overcome decades of mistrust, but we will proceed with courage, rectitude, and resolve. There will be many issues to discuss between our two countries, and we are willing to move forward without preconditions on the basis of mutual respect.
In contrast to Obama, Condoleezza Rice was firm regarding these two terrorist supporting nations:
The case of Syria is especially serious … because as its neighbors embrace democracy or other political reforms, Syria is harboring or directly supporting groups committed to violence … in Lebanon, in Israel, in Iraq, and in the Palestinian territories.
In Iran … people are losing patience with an oppressive regime that denies them their liberty and their rights. The appearance of elections does not mask the organized cruelty of Iran’s theocratic state. The Iranian people are capable of liberty. They desire liberty. And they deserve liberty.
Such direct language did not come from Obama — not even after the 2009 fraudulent election results in Iran brought millions of Iranian protesters to the street.
The only bold statement Obama made in Cairo, for which he received his loudest applause, was when he used Israel as bait and exhibited misplaced moral equivalency. Bush’s secretary of state did not need to resort to blasting the only democracy in the Middle East.
While it is true that mistakes were made by Bush in his campaign for democracy in the Middle East — including his insistence on allowing Hamas to compete in the 2006 Palestinian elections before building democratic institutions — the Bush campaign for democracy did, however, give Middle Eastern Arabs and others hope.
In the end, Obama’s politically correct Cairo speech that excused Arab and Palestinian behavior has done little to further democracy or give hope to millions of oppressed Arabs as well as persecuted minorities (Baluchistan, Kurds, and Christians), let alone affect change.
To be fair Singapore is not a democracy nor does it have freedom of speech. But mostly the citizens are happy because it has a competent government that runs a country very well. None of the Arab states have that.
To be fair, Singapore’s government consists of three branches: the Executive (President and Cabinet), the Legislative (Parliament), and the Judicial (Supreme and Subordinate Courts). As the President is largely ceremonial it is the Cabinet (the Prime Minister and other ministers appointed by the President on advice of the PM) that mainly runs the GOS. It is true that the GOS tends to be much more autocratic and authoritarian than the US has traditionally been and the GOS has been dominated by a single party (People’s Action Party) since 1959, but then again Japan has been led by the LDP almost continuously since 1955.
I do agree, though, that none of the Arab states have anything close to Singapore, but Iraq is working on it.
The longer Obama is in office the more distant and uncertain are his words of hope and change, morphing into business as usual in dealing with the Middle East. You also bring us a interesting point. Why is he so concerned about the majority in those lands when it is obvious that the ones who suffer the most are the minorities; Christians, Kurds, and Jews.
How in the hell did that happen, where the ones in power of that region of the world for centuries, the ones who torment the rest of the world, have managed to portray themselves as the poor victims. They have owned that part of the world living off the backs of those they hold prisoner with their yoke of suppression and tyranny. Now we have a president who seems happy to again give merit to their deceit.
They wear blinders proudly, he and his intellectual cronies.
“President/dictator Hosni Mubarak pledges his support for the U.S. and the West, causing his countrymen to hate America for its support of their dictator.”
Mubarak’s regime is the only thing standing between Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood.
“The George W. Bush administration surmised correctly that terrorism perpetrated in the name of Islam was due to the absence of democracy and pluralism in the Arab world.”
Watch out what you wish for. Gaza had a democratic vote and wound up with Hamas. And regardless of the Bush administration’s surmises, it accomplished nothing in the Middle East during its eight years.
#4
You are correct in saying to the people of Gaza; Watch out what you wish for, because they voted for a corrupt government and that is exactly what they got.
biblio44: “And regardless of the Bush administration’s surmises, it accomplished nothing in the Middle East during its eight years.”
Sorry but you are wrong. Syria got out of Lebanon and we did not get attacked. The War in Iraq attracted an entire generation of terrorists (extra men with no hope, due to polygamy) from all over the ME and introduced them to the 72 raisons. Here comes Obama fighting for the “right” of women to wear the veil. The veil is an excuse for men to rape women.
This is a great article pointing out the difference between a real man who cares about people with genuine courage, and a quisling.
“it accomplished nothing in the Middle East during its eight years.”
Funny, I thought there used to be a genocidal madman somewhere in the Middle East…in the Baghdad area.
I guess the aliens took him…or did he give up his post voluntarily, established a fledgling democracy, and then hung his own rotten ass? Also, wasn’t there some stuff going on in Lebanon that kind of stopped after that whole Hussein thing I just mentioned?
Jeebus biblio, if you’re going to troll, at least TRY and make it a little hard to call you out.
Democracy & Islam are incompatible. The dictatorships through-out the Muslim world are a symptom, not a cause. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is likewise a symptom, not a cause of conflict. The problem of the Middle-East (and of much of the world, lately) is ISLAM. Islam is a totalitarian political system not a religion. The problems are a direct result of the core beliefs of the ideology, such as Jihad. Terrorism is a tactic in the war against non-Muslims.