WP: Arabs Say U.S. Rhetoric Rings Hollow

[kskiska]

Saturday, January 22, 2005; Page A01

AMMAN, Jordan, Jan. 21 -- President Bush's inaugural address placing the fostering of democratic freedoms around the world at the center of U.S. foreign policy drew a skeptical reaction Friday in the Arab world, where analysts questioned whether the rhetoric of the speech was consistent with the administration's actions in the Middle East.

With Arab countries mostly shuttered for a four-day Islamic holiday that marks the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, there was little public reaction to Bush's address. Many newspapers have not published for days, and government offices closed earlier than usual this week.

In interviews, however, a number of political analysts and commentators commended the values outlined in Bush's speech, in which he proclaimed that the United States "will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation, the moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right." But they said the words belied the fact that the United States supports several authoritarian governments in the Middle East and would ring hollow to the many Arabs who perceive U.S. policy in the oil-rich region as motivated by financial concerns and support for Israel.

Although the president did not mention the daily violence in Iraq and in the Palestinian territories, the U.S. role in those conflicts frequently spurs Arabs to question American credibility regarding the goals Bush outlined in his address. Several writers called the speech "messianic" in tone and language and potentially harmful to fledgling reform movements across the region.

"It's scary stuff, so sweeping and overarching you don't know what to make of it," said Sadiq Azm, a Syrian writer and reform advocate. "He's saying that what's good for America is good for everyone else. We are used to this kind of bombast from our Arab leaders. But it's been a long time since I've heard it in English."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27644-2005Jan21.html

[NYC]

1. It's scary stuff, alright.

"It's scary stuff, so sweeping and overarching you don't know what to make of it," said Sadiq Azm, a Syrian writer and reform advocate. "He's saying that what's good for America is good for everyone else. We are used to this kind of bombast from our Arab leaders. But it's been a long time since I've heard it in English."

[teryang]

2. This is why American policy supports tyranny worldwide

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, China, Egypt, the minor Arab states, etc., etc.

No one who studies anything about American policies in recent times could believe any of current day American propaganda justifying our imperialism.

[rainbow4321]

3. Muslim pilgrims stone 'devil' Bush in Haj ritual

http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/22/content_411382.htm



Haj pilgrims pelted stones at symbols of the devil on Friday, and many said they were targeting US President Bush and other world leaders seen as oppressing Muslims.

Many pilgrims said they were thinking of Bush and his allies while they were hurling pebbles at the site where the devil is said to have appeared to the biblical patriarch Abraham.

"Yes, the devil is Bush and that other one from Israel -- (Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon. And there's (British Prime Minister) Blair too," said Egyptian Tia'amah Mohammed.

"We throw the stones so we can vent our anger at them."

[Moderator]

4. Duplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1172640