ARAB AFFAIRS - Nov.6 - Concern Over Bush's Democracy Call.Arab leaders express concern about Pres. Bush's Nov. 4 call for democracy in the Middle East Proposed reasons for the relative absence of liberal democracy in the Middle East are diverse, from the long history of imperial rule by the Ottoman Empire, Britain and France and the contemporary political and military intervention by the United States, all of which have been blamed for . Bush recast the argument for America's intervention in Iraq as part of a "global democratic revolution", announcing a "new policy" which will no longer excuse or accommodate dictatorships in the Muslim world The term Muslim world (or Islamic world) has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Muslims, adherents of Islam. This community numbers about 1.5-2 billion people, about one-fourth of the world. . In a sweeping speech to the National Endowment for Democracy The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983, to promote democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress. in Washington, Bush portrayed himself as a champion of liberty setting out a "forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East". His call was intended to echo that of the former Republican president who mandated the endowment, Ronald Reagan, when confronting the Soviet Union 20 years ago. Bush was speaking as a memorial service was held in Iraq for the 16 US soldiers killed when a Chinook Chinook, indigenous people of North AmericaChinook (shĭn  k`, chĭ–), Native American tribe of the Penutian linguistic stock. helicopter was shot down by insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. on Nov.2. He made no mention of WMD WMDwhite muscle disease. or the alleged threat Saddam Hussein posed to US national security, but instead emphasised the importance of American sacrifice to the spread of freedom. He said: "Iraqi democracy will succeed and that success will send forth the news from Damascus to Tehran that freedom can be the future of every nation. The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution". Drawing a line under "60 years of western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East", Bush expanded on the transformationalist agenda embraced by his national security adviser C. Rice. (In August, Ms Rice set out US ambitions to remake the Middle East, an argument championed by neo-conservatives eager to use American power to advance democracy and free markets. The White House did not elaborate on Bush's implicit criticism of half a century of US foreign policy in the Muslim world, nor the suggestion that fellow democracies in Europe had coddled cruel dictatorships in the Arab/Muslim region). Bush said: "The US has adopted a new policy, a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East". His speech came just before he signed legislation authorising $87 bn in further funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, the largest US programme of financial aid since the post-World War II's Marshall Plan Marshall Plan or European Recovery Program, project instituted at the Paris Economic Conference (July, 1947) to foster economic recovery in certain European countries after World War II. The Marshall Plan took form when U.S. . Just over 7 months since Bush stood on a US aircraft carrier and addressed troops beneath a banner that said "Mission Accomplished" on May 1, the White House is making renewed efforts to defend the pre-emptive pre·emp·tive or pre-emp·tive adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of preemption. 2. Having or granted by the right of preemption. 3. a. war launched by Bush. Bush made swift mention of other regions of the world where democracy is yet to take root, such as China. But he emphasised the democratic progress in the Middle East, citing countries such as Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Morocco and Jordan. He also said: "The Saudi government is taking first steps toward reform, including a plan for gradual introduction of elections" - in a brief reference to one of the most contentious countries on the US foreign policy agenda. |
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