SHADOWLAND
Christopher Dickey
Bush’s 10 Commandments
The U.S. president's latest pronouncements on Iran and the Arab world generated doom and gloom on his Mideast tour.
President George W. Bush concluded his Good and Evil Tour of the Middle East on Sunday with a fiery sermon in Sinai. And if he wasn't in a position to hand down commandments like those delivered to Moses, it wasn't for want of trying. Even a Republican congressman was overheard saying that he found Bush's tone "arrogant." But what really was disturbing, indeed sad to watch, was the way the president of the United States wound up wandering in the wilderness.
Bush had just come from Saudi Arabia, where he tried to get an increase in oil production big enough to stop the record-breaking run-up of oil prices. That didn't work. He had been to Israel for the 60th anniversary of its creation as a modern state, but the headline from his speech to the Knesset was a thinly disguised cheap shot at Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (one of those supposed "appeasers" who would talk to terrorists the way others once wanted to talk to Hitler).
Now Bush was addressing the opening of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East—"Davos in the Desert," as it's sometimes called—at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh. And if he wanted to keep the rich and influential participants talking until the forum concluded Tuesday, he succeeded. But gloom and doom were the unintended keynotes.
Each of Bush's commandments, on its face, made sense. In fact, few if any in the audience of 1,500 men and women would disagree with him on general principles. The problem is the Bush administration's record of turning good ideas into horrible realities in the past, and deep pessimism in the Middle East about the possibilities he has left open for the future.
Looking at Iraq, the peace process, Lebanon, the growing strength of Iran, the continued deterioration of Somalia, the potential disintegration of Sudan, not to mention the vast decline in the value of the dollar and the faltering global economy, the participants at the forum knew only too well they were halfway to hell on roads paved with George W. Bush's good intentions:
Thou shalt democratize. The American "ideals of liberty and justice," which Bush called "as old as the pyramids" have "sparked a revolution across much of the world," he said. Ignoring past American support for iron-fisted dictatorships in Chile, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea, he cited them all as salient examples of good news to come … maybe. "I strongly believe that if leaders like those of you in this room act with vision and resolve," he said with carefully hedged condescension, "the first half of the 21st century can be the time when similar advances reach the Middle East." But the truth is that practical politics and American priorities soon bury such pronouncements like a sphinx under the sand. Egyptian President-for-Life Hosni Mubarak is a case in point. Three years ago the White House put him under enormous pressure to make a better show opening up his system to opposition and elections. But Washington soon realized it needed Mubarak's reliability more than democratic credibility. "I continue to hope that Egypt can lead the region in political reform," Bush said lamely.
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Member Comments
Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 05/25/2008 3:42:56 PM
Comment: Froggie: I am not so convinced. Most of the reporting agencies on an international scale[which follow],put the deathtoll on May 22,at ''at least 42 to 46 killed''. The German DEUTCHEWELLE added ''7 more''of whom two were burned to death on this day raising this death toll to over 50.
ABC
MSNBC
CNN
AP
UPI
REUTERS
The Washington Post
The Boston Globe
The New York Times
The Vancouver Sun
The Australian
The London Times
The UK TELEGRAPH
The UK GUARDIAN
Agence-France-Presse,ll for May 22,2008,none of which mention ''25 dead''after May 21st.
Chicagos organized crime problem is obvious. As I observed in my previous post,''organized crime is a greater problem[in Iraq,where you can view on NEWSWEEKS companion area in ''NEWS'',an article specifically devoted to ''organized crime''in Mosul as conducted by al Qaeda],and we have that here,in Obamas Chicago''
Yes we do. On Sept.22,2000,an FBI plant in Chicagos LUINA [laborers union],uncovered nearly a dozen rackateering operations taking place in that union branch alone during testimony before the state AGs office and the US Justice Dept.[www.thelaborer.net] This is not all.
The Las Vegas Review Journal May 19,2007:''Chicagos Organized Crime Family: Informant Admits To Involvement In 14 Killings''.
CBS Chicago,Apr.22,2008:''Chicago Gangs Give City Deadly Weekend.32 Shot,2 Stabbed,6 Dead''.[over two weekends ending on Apr.30,over 54 people had been shot or stabbed].
The Chicago Tribune Sept.03,2007''More Than A Dozen People Killed In Weekend Violence''[with another 30 wounded,4 critically].
Chicago Public Radio[NPR] May 17,2008: ''Chicago Murder Rate Up In 2008''.
The police are now militarizing in Chicago. Orders for 9,900 military assault carbines,the M-4, including 1,700 for police cruisers, will eclipse the number of these same weapons in Marine hands in Fallujah,Iraq at this moment. Armoured Personnel Carriers are also on the list. It is expected that this will be the largest militarization of any national city police force in the history of America. Why would they go to this solution?
Posted By: codefac @ 05/24/2008 9:46:49 AM
Comment: This comment is about the Bush commandment "Thou shalt not talk to Iran: How's Bush supposed to talk in Arabic, Farsi or Persian when he is a home boy from the United States? It is not clear that either Bush or any of his military commanders know what language to talk in! The troops could have been told in their military training course what language they talk in, but instead he left that for troop-spies to find out!
As for "democratizing dictatorships like Chile" it was probably the State Dept Head Condoleeza Rice that told him that. She stands for democratizing dictatorships everywhere!!!! All over dis -- big circular-shaped edifice that is depicted on your Master Card....
Posted By: R. Mendel @ 05/23/2008 4:26:17 PM
Comment: Holmes, the highest death toll I have seen for the South Africa riots TOTAL as of the 22nd is 40 (most are around 25). On the day you refer to, 46 Iraqis were killed (physically accounted for).
Also, your comparison to Chicago is both inaccurate and alarmingly apathetic. I'm really curious -- do you actually think living in Chicago is similar to living in Baghdad? If so, I think you should go investigate. Do Chicago first.