Posted on 03/05/2005 9:09:14 PM PST by quidnunc
In retrospect, it was an appearance by President George W. Bush before the National Endowment for Democracy, in November 2003, that signaled the birth of a new "diplomacy of freedom" in the Arab world. The American military effort in Iraq was in its early stages then; the euphoria of the military campaign had ended, and a war of attrition had begun. Saddam Hussein was still on the loose, and there was no trace of those vaunted weapons of mass destruction that had taken us to war. At that uncertain hour, Bush proposed nothing less than a break with the ways of American diplomacy in the region. "Sixty years of western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe, because in the long run," he said, "stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty. As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment, and violence ready for export."
Today the Arab world is beset by a mighty storm. For decades, the American choice in Arab-Islamic lands was stark. The "civil society" there was truculent and malignantly anti-American, while the rulers seemed like eminently reasonable men willing to strike bargains in the shadows. It was easy to accept their authoritarianism as the cultural practice of the Arabs: This was what Bush called the "soft bigotry of low expectations."
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
"Sixty years of western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe, because in the long run," he said, "stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty. As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment, and violence ready for export."
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Bush lit the fuse, which will blow up the dictatorships in the Middle East, bringing democracy and real lasting piece -- it doesn't come easily and cheaply, but ultimately it is worth the price.
Good article. Thanks for posting.
Bush pulling this off would be perhaps the greatest political achievement in the last 100 years. Maybe longer.
I share the passion.
So happy we have a guy with vision and testicles.
God bless President Bush whose vision of the Greater Middle East to spread freedom and democracy is becoming more and more real every day. God bless our troops who are fighting to protect our freedom and our way of life and helping the spread of freedom in the Middle East.
God Bless America.
Powerful words from great man.
Now that it's been MADE our business, we have to get in there and clean out the stables. No half-measures, no gestures. Action for what is RIGHT.
It's as simple as that.
I'm sure you meant to spell "peace". But personally I find it hard to even imagine peace in a land where the diabolical practice of Islam roams the region seeking to devour souls.
L
9-11 the high water mark of Islamic terror.
LOL!
I did mean peace -- must have been a Freudian slip -- the dictatorships have to be blown to pieces by the people rising up -- to bring the peace.
I think Islam would become less violent in a Democracy also, that is what the terrorist fear, and Zarqawi even said it.
and if he is able to move the Black voter .... well ... I just wouldnt know what to say. Just stand and aplaud
Geez...what's a guy gotta do? I vote he got 'em.
This is one fantastic article!
Sierra club isn't going to like the mention of an all-terrain vehicle.
We now take democracy on those hard Arab roads. It is their world, and they must repair it. But they hang on Bush's words, in Damascus and Beirut, and in Cairo as well. It is odd that it is a conservative American president who proclaims this confident Wilsonianism. But the crowds in Araby don't seem to mind.
I consider it more in line with Lincoln, but it isn't odd. The past few decades it has been Republicans that have carried this message. The era of Scoop and JFK is long gone, with only a few that carry that same vision still in the party.
I will disagree with the question of whether the public supports this vision. 51% made that decision Nov. 2.
Me too!
Howdy!
It's been a while since we shared a thread. How've ya been? :-)
"At that uncertain hour, Bush proposed nothing less than a break with the ways of American diplomacy in the region."
Uncertain times need men who are certain.
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