NYT: Democracy Push by Bush Attracts Doubters in Party

[sabra]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/17/politics/17democracy.html?hp&ex=1142658000&en=88b1ed0267de94e4&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Democracy Push by Bush Attracts Doubters in Party

Even as it presents an updated national security strategy, the Bush administration is facing fresh doubts from some Republicans who say its emphasis on promoting democracy around the world has come at the expense of protecting other American interests.

The second thoughts signify a striking change in mood over one of President Bush's cherished tenets, pitting Republicans who call themselves realists against the neoconservatives who saw the invasion of Iraq as a catalyst for change and who remain the most vigorous advocates of a muscular American campaign to foster democratic movements.

"You are hearing more and more questions about the administration's approach on this issue," said Lorne W. Craner, president of the International Republican Institute, a foundation linked to the Republican Party that supports democratic activities abroad. "The 'realists' in the party are rearing their heads and asking, 'Is this stuff working?' "

The critics, who include Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Richard G. Lugar of Indiana and Representative Henry J. Hyde of Illinois, as well as Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft, are alarmed at the costs of military operations and of nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[fshrink]

1. So,

maybe this administration should launch its "democracy-promoting" agencies and troops against itself to restore democracy here?

[grasswire]

2. a charade

Why would people as sophisticated as Lugar and Kissinger participate in the bogus premise that Bushco is "spreading democracy"?

Bushco is enriching itself and its cronies. Democracy-spreading is a cover.