Bush democracy call could undermine real democrats in the Middle East.

[kalazh]

In Egypt, Muhammad el-Sayed Said, deputy director of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, said Bush's call for democracy in the Middle East was legitimate.
But he said Bush had drawn so much mistrust in the region due to Arab perception of Washington's indiscriminate support for Israel or the occupation of Iraq that his call could undermine real democrats in the Middle East.
"Real, genuine democrats in the region, they just simply don't trust Mr Bush. They think that the more that the United States plugs this question of striving for democracy in the region, the more they feel that this is damaging to their cause," he said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BFF619F0-79DA-4AC3-B362-BBE604459B29.htm

Isn't that something?
What do you think?

[EdGy]

1. absolutely!!

this is SO true.

There is absolutely NO reason for them to trust Bush or the US in general for that matter.

What the US calls "democracy assistance" is funded by the US government, funnelled through US government agencies like USAID or semi-government agencies like NED, and is very often focused on getting into power guys the US likes, not making sure there is a democratic process that actually responds to the desires and preferences of the population.

The so-called democracy assistance has consistently, time after time, undermined those in society who are really attempting to realize democracy. I've looked at this question very closely in the Balkans, in what is perhaps a best case scenario, where people are familiar and sympathetic to western liberal democracy and to the US, and US policies of "democracy assistance" consistently have undermined already existing civil society groups and non-governmental associations. They have caused so much damage to the cause of democracy, and the US officials in charge don't seem to care. In fact I think the actual goal of this kind of "assistance" is to make sure that actually functioning and effective social movements and political activists are sidelined and marginalized.

I can only imagine that if the US is involved in "democracy assistance" in the middle east it will be a disaster.

Finally, I don't think anyone for a moment believes that Bush actually believes what he's saying. The LAST thing they want is actual democracy. They want the appearance of democracy without its substance.

Kind of like what they're aiming for in the US.