SELL IT, CONDI, SELL IT !!! I didn't notice a blank check on USA invasion yet. By virtue fact of the history of the USA we have never advocated any government other than a democratic one for any country, so short of Condi having a personal attack force to remove any government she doesn't approve of this is plainly just "Political Nonsense," still and again.
EDITORIAL:
The bully pulpit and Condi Rice
Secretary serves notice that the United States is not a friend to dictators.
"FOR 60 YEARS, my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region here in the Middle East, and we achieved neither. Now we are taking a different course. We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people."
The speaker: Condoleezza Rice, U.S. secretary of state.
The venue: The American University in Cairo, Egypt.
The objective: According to Rice, to encourage free elections, release of political prisoners and women's rights across the Middle East.
IT IS ONE THING to press democratic reform on conquered Afghanistan and Iraq, where U.S. forces back it up. It's another to point the finger at countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which pose as U.S. allies while operating repressive regimes that pacify and tacitly encourage Islamic extremism.
A strong argument can be made that decades of U.S. support for such regimes is at least partly to blame for the rise of extremism against America. Throughout history, when people are oppressed, with no healthy outlet for dissent and reform, they often react with irrational violence.
Rice's remarks place the United States in a position of political and intellectual consistency with this nation's principles. If free elections and political liberty are good for Iraq and Afghanistan, they're also good for Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Syria. There will be no troops to back up Rice, but her use of the bully pulpit is welcome and accurate.
