Posted on 06/23/2005 12:10:40 AM PDT by nickcarraway
CAIRO -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a major pitch on Monday for democratic reforms in the Middle East but got a dose of Muslim anger on the latest leg of a whirlwind regional tour.
Rice told conservative Arab leaders that the United States would no longer tolerate oppression in the name of stability, putting allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia on notice as well as familiar targets Iran and Syria.
"We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people," Rice told 600 scholars and students at the American University in Cairo in the keynote address of her six-day swing.
"Throughout the Middle East, the fear of free choices can no longer justify the denial of liberty," she said. "It is time to abandon the excuses that are made to avoid the hard work of democracy."
She echoed a key theme of US President George W. Bush's second term, that global democracy was the best antidote to Islamic extremism and the spread of terrorism.
"For 60 years my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in the Middle East - and we achieved neither. Now, we are taking a different course," she said.
But Rice's message drew a less than enthusiastic reception in Egypt, one of Washington's staunchest partners in the Middle East.
Her speech produced no major applause, merely a polite ovation at the end. The biggest hand was reserved for audience members who questioned her on alleged war crimes against the Palestinians and abuses of the Koran.
Earlier, foreign minister Ahmed Abul Gheit heard out Rice's appeal to ensure free and fair presidential elections in September and had a retort of his own on Arab feelings toward the Americans.
"There is anger in the region," Abul Gheit told a joint news conference after Rice conferred with President Hosni Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh.
"We have to control that anger and we have to work on that anger to build American-Muslim relations," he said.
Rice, on the fourth leg of her tour, also made a point of meeting eight Egyptian opposition leaders but two major groups were conspicuously absent.
Kifaya (Enough), which has spearheaded protests against what it calls sham electoral reforms promoted by Mubarak, said that it wanted no dealings with the Americans.
But even as Rice took Egypt's "arbitrary justice" to task, around 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside the high court in Cairo to protest against the detention of four Kifaya supporters.
"Give him a visa, Condoleezza, and take him with you," chanted the protestors in reference to Mubarak.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a once-militant group that no longer espouses violence, was not invited. "We have not engaged with the Muslim Brotherhood and we won't," Rice told a questioner at the American University.
But Rice did meet Ayman Al Nur, whose detention earlier this year played a role in prompting Rice to cancel plans to visit Egypt in March.
Whatever the reception, Rice pressed on with her pro-democracy campaign.
"There are those who say democracy leads to chaos, conflict and terror. In fact, the opposite in true: freedom and democracy are the only ideas powerful enough to overcome hatred, division and violence."
After meeting Mubarak, Rice warned him that the world would be watching the September elections in which he is widely expected to seek a fifth mandate.
"It is going to be essential that these elections be free and fair," she said. "I think our Egyptian friends understand that and I believe will take their responsibility seriously because people will watch what happens in Egypt."
Abul Gheit interrupted Rice to try to reassure her.
"Who would object to fair and transparent elections? Everybody wants fair and transparent elections, and it will be so, I assure you," he said.
A US official traveling with Rice described her speech as an "important statement" but eluded a question on what might happen if the Egyptian vote falls short of US standards.
A debate has been raging in Washington over the amount of pressure that should be exerted on Egypt, the most populous Arab country and the second top recipient of US economic and military aid in the world after Israel.
Egypt has a peace treaty with the Jewish state and plays a strategic mediating role between Israel and the Palestinians, currently engaged in talks over Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Rice praised Egypt's role but issued another stark warning to Syria, piling the blame on the Damascus regime for instability between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as in Iraq and Lebanon.
"Our concerns are with Syria's behavior. We need a Syria that takes seriously the changes that are taking place in the region," she said.
According to US officials, no less than six aides helped nail down the language of Rice's keynote speech, in which she gave a country-by-country rundown of the US perception of the status of democratic efforts.
She also lashed out at Iran, three days after the first round of the presidential elections. "The appearance of elections does not mask the organized cruelty of Iran's theocratic state," she said.
Blah blah blah blah blah...
It's so nice to have a Sec. of State that doesn't drink toasts of champagne with tyrants like Kim Il. She's a real American.
Rice is a very impressive lady, however she is in the Bush administration. The question I raise about her statement is, the statement in itself is good and encouraging to freedom loving people everywhere, however can Rice say the same thing to Americans, as her boss in the White House is inviting millions upon millions of illegals to America to put an end to American citizens' democratic aspirations for all time. Our country is being taken over by a hostile country, Mexico, and our President is encouraing it.
The longer I view this border war against the American citizens by President Bush, I have become convinced that he is marching to the beat of a totally different drum for America - a drum that beats disaster for the freedom we have always known as a soverign nation. Sadly, most people haven't caught on to it yet, but when they do it will be too late. Heck, it's too late now.
As to how Rice's statement will help Israel, I don't think it will. Bush has determined to do what Nassar promised he'd do in the 60s, and that is to see Israel pushed into the sea. Through the agenda of several American Presidents now, Israel has become a weaker nation, a fearful nation, and even their leaders are, in my opinion, on the run as never before. Land they took from the terrorists has been turned over to the terrorists again, thanks to America's policy of trying to force a union of people all over the world, whether they want it or not. In short, American citizens and Israeli citezins are very much in the same boat.
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