Many here on Kos like to point out, with my full and complete support, the hypocricy of Bush's sabre rattling about democracy and enemies of freedom when the US government actively supports oppressive regimes like Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It's a great line. But could all this sabre rattling actually be having a
positive effect on Egypt?
More after the jump.
The first, in the
New York Times describes what could, possibly, maybe, be considered a "cause."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday abruptly called off a planned trip to several Middle Eastern countries that had been scheduled for next week, a decision that came apparently because of the arrest of a leading Egyptian opposition politician last month.
The second, from Reuters describes what could, maybe, sorta, be considered the effect.
Mubarak said in a televised speech he had proposed to parliament changing the constitution "to give the opportunity to political parties to enter the presidential elections and provide guarantees that allow more than one candidate to be put forward to the presidency for people to choose among them freely."
Especially pertinent, even if only slightly and vaguely true, is this line . . .
The U.S. campaign for reform in the Middle East, although widely derided within the region as meddling in their internal affairs, has made it easier for people to talk about their leaders' flaws, analysts say.
Neither of these are terribly in-depth (that's what I get for doing my research off the MyYahoo RSS feeds), but they give enough info to draw a connection.
I know, I know, it's kind of hard to imagine the Bush team actually accomplishing anything positive when it comes to foreign relations. And it's still too early to tell if anything meaningful will come of this. But perhaps it's not too early to imagine the crowing of the Chickenhawks if Egypt actually experiences meaningful democratic reforms during the Bush presidency.