"Democracy in Jordan" (How Bush has blown it - again)

[tomfodw]

http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark/2004/08/democracy_in_jo.html

Democracy in Jordan

Anecdote: a friend of mine was recently scheduled to take part in a "democracy assessment" exercise in Jordan in a US government sponsored initiative that I'll not name for confidentiality purposes. And then, as this friend told me: "Well it seems that the J govt called late Friday, 48 hours before departure, and cancelled the trip as "inappropriate at this time.""

Isn't it remarkable that the Jordanian government might feel free to tell a US-government sponsored "democracy assessment" to take a hike because it would not be "appropriate at this time"?

Maybe the Jordanian government was worried about what such an assessment might find.

Maybe the Jordanian government just didn't much care what the American government might have to say about its democracy right now.

And maybe the Jordanian government knew perfectly well that the Bush administration didn't much care either.

Just one more anecdote to throw on the pile. Respect for the United States in the region has never been lower, and almost all Arabs - leaders and people alike - believe that Bush's democracy talk is meaningless. This frustrates those Arab reformers who genuinely want democratic changes, and increases their anti-American resentments. And it reassures Arab dictators, who are always happy to get back to business as usual.

It amazes me that well-informed and principled Americans who genuinely believe that spreading democracy in the Middle East is important for American security and national interests can't (or won't) see how completely the Bush administration has failed in this regard.

Posted on August 24, 2004 at 10:12 AM