Empty Promises of Freedom - Fawaz A. Gerges

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/18/opinion/18GERG.html

" It's also clear that Arab autocrats — even those who woo the West with democratic language — won't do anything unless they're nudged and pushed. Shamefully, President Bush and his senior aides spent most of their meeting last month with the leaders of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia pressing them to fight terrorism. What they should have been talking about was the importance of promoting democracy and reform. This emphasis sends the wrong message to Arab rulers and citizens by reinforcing the widely held perception that the United States uses democracy as a whip to punish its enemies, like Iraq, while doing business as usual with its autocratic allies."

An interesting op-ed I thought would be worthwhile.

This emphasis sends the wrong message to Arab rulers and citizens by reinforcing the widely held perception that the United States uses democracy as a whip to punish its enemies, like Iraq, while doing business as usual with its autocratic allies.

While it's the wrong message to be sending, it's exactly what the US does and has done in its foreign policy since WWII. Whether the cause was fear of Communism sweeping through the world or now The War Against Terror, the US has and will get into bed with the devil if it thinks it will help its cause and whether the bedmate is a dictator busily oppressing the people or someone truly interested in democratic reform isn't important, as long as the US has a compliant client willing to do their bidding...

Violet...

The correct conclusion is that these regimes are what
the US wishes them to be. It is not that we have not pushed
them enough, it is that this is what we pushed them to be.

The US has displayed no hesitation about regime change or
applying pressure on foreign governments when it comes to
issues that matter to them, but democracy and nationalism
are considered bad things among the colonized cultures, it
would make them difficult and unremunerative to exploit.

Interesting, didn't used to be able to make dupes.

I've seen threads upstairs where 10-12 duplicate posts are made off a single click, some flaw in the new software.. strange.