"I Have a Mirage!" Bush Declares to the Arab World

George Bush's magical mystery tour of the Middle East found him inside the insanely opulent Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi Sunday where he delivered his much-anticipated "I Have a Mirage" speech (you gotta see that hotel to believe it!).

Billed as an effort to take his Middle East "Freedom Agenda" off of life support and convince his Middle East audience that democracy is the true path to paradise on earth, Bush could not help but transform what was supposed to be an "uplifting" address into a dire warning that Iran constituted the biggest threat to the Arab world.

Mixing the threat of Iran with a call on Arabs to embrace democracy has a certain oil vs. water quality to it. The problem (like so many ways of the region that remain impenetrably mysterious to this White House) is that most Arabs believe that Bush, rather than Ahmadenijad, or even Bin Laden, is the greatest threat to Middle East peace.

Most Arabs don't understand how Bush can expect to coax them into some sort of an anti-Iran alliance when our National Intelligence Estimate on Iran -- widely disseminated throughout the Arab world -- appeared to discredit Iran as a nuclear threat. And, not to forget, most Arabs do not consider themselves victims of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism (and don't also seem to care one iota that that their fellow Muslims in Iraq, or Lebanon happen to be targeted by Iran's mullahs). As long as those Revolutionary Guards are instigating terror against Israel, well, that's none of their business, I guess.

In a region where Israel is the only true democracy, Bush added another touch of incredulity to his tour when he stated: "To the people of the Middle East,. we hear your cries for justice."

Oh, really?

He and his Secretary of State must surely suffer from oft-convenient lapses of auditory reception.

When Egypt's autocratic ruler, Hosni Mubarak tossed Ayman Nour into a dungeon -- the only certifiably, moderate, secular democrat who dared challenge him in his reelection campaign -- Condi Rice just happened to be at a loss for democracy-inspiring words when she met Mubarak in in February, 2006 after a kangaroo court sentenced Nour to 5 years in prison. Best, according to Rice's conduct, not to mix democracy with other, more urgent agendas she has with Mubarak. So much for "...we hear your cries..."

In Saudi Arabia, when one of the nation's young, moderate critics of the House of Saud blogs an occasional webslinger and is picked up by the religious police, Rice must have had her IPOD turned up too high.

Need more examples...well, just read the State Department's 2006 Human Rights reports on Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc. etc., etc.

Arabs have long become accustomed to hearing Bush and Rice pontificate about democracy in the Middle East. But to most Arabs, Exhibit #1 of America's neocon-noble attempt at democracy happened to sadly descend into the carnage that has wracked Iraq since 2003, and like quicksand before an oasis, Arabs are quick to exclaim "laa shukran" (no thanks).

Indeed, the sad commentary is that any Arab that has been seen embracing American democracy assistance has found him or herself victimized, ostracized, and publicly ridiculed due to Bush's low standing even among moderate Arabs (yes, my friends, there are tens of millions of moderate Arabs who yearn for more open, just societies).

If we could only find a way to galvanize them into a real force for change against extremism.

It's taken a terribly long time for Rice -- no expert on the Middle East either before, during, or after her 7th year in this administration -- to understand that "elections" do not constitute "democracy." So inserted into Bush's speech was a call for the development of strong civil institutions upon which to build the foundations of democracy.

Some Middle East countries, such as Morocco and Jordan, as well as several Gulf States, have begun doing just that -- building independent, non-corrupted judiciaries, and civic institutions. But where it really counts -- in Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- such civil institutions remain mirages.

It will take a new president with the credibility of not being this president, to restore some faith and confidence in America's word in the Middle East.

How important is that?

When you come to appreciate, as I have long understood, that the sooner America's full faith and credit are inspirational once again to galvanize the voices of Arab moderates to have the courage to stand up to their local extremists, well then, you will hear me declare: "I have a dream."

Comments

[Kirby]

Oh, come on.......Israel is the only true democracy? Since when does a democracy use bulldozers in the middle of the night to tear down peoples' homes. The fact that they vote in the Knesset does not make them a democracy or make present a spirit of democracy. When one considers the atrocities commited by the Likud, in so many, my ways, it ishighly qujestionable gto crfedit Israel with being a true democracy. Israel has sponsored state terrorism against all Palestinians by its actions. Did it excpect the Palestinians to mp and down with joy by their founding? Or did i expect special accommodatons when it began building settements in the West Bank.
Israel and its American constituents have done a great job in spreading b.s. propaganda.

[bobtr900]

The Bush Family Oil Wars may never stop and may well continue to dominate world affairs for some to come. The Texas oil mafia will make sure that occurrs. I see nothing on the horizon either near or far that indicates otherwise.
Reagan cancelled Pres. Carters oil/energy initiatives and so it continues.
As long as the Bush family and the Cheney family and the Texas oil mafia rule the world may never know peace.

[Duncan]

The best way to defeat the middle east was to stop using their oil. Had we started on this path just 20 years ago, we would be selling that technology to Europe, India, Russia and China now and the middle east would be imploding and on it's way to ruin.

Unfortunately, since the oil corporations own the government, it will never happen and the American voter will continue to buy their big gas guzzling trucks and complaining at 3 dollars a gallon gas and voting in candidates who somehow raise quarter of a billion dollars in donations.

[raymundorassilon]

Monkey Boy CHIMPya W. Bush is scurrying around, trying to leave any so-called "accompishments" that he can finagle which he believes will be his legacy while president. That's a BIG laugh, the only legacy Bush will leave will be the skid-marks on his used underwear, and he personally believes that even THAT is a major undertaking!

[wrabbitt]

If they won't lower the price of oil why are we still selling them weapons? they already have a weapon "OIL" i see no good reason to sell them weapons, they produce lots of oil when the price is right. Don't Mohammed dislike those who live the western life style? money the root of all american evil? look again!

[realistic2008]

The mirage that Bush sees it is no other than to go personally and collect his share of the bounty which he helped the Saudis accumulate during nhis presidency. I am sure Bush and Chenney have given not water from the wells but all the oil from the wells in exchange for a few WMDs, never mention that the terrorist came from Saudi Arabia and for staying clear of his egomaniac actions in Iraq.

[coloneblog]

Last week, during the Olmert/bush press conference, our fool of a president, in referring to Iran, suggested that the Iranian people are being misled by their government leaders. This coming from the "master of misleading." bush is 7+ years too late to have any positive effect on the Israeli/Palestinian situations. Rather than trying to do something he"s helpless to achieve, he"d be better-off taking vacation time; maybe a week at Disney World? Just as he"s deliberately passing the Iraq War mess on to the next administration, he should do the same with Israeli/Palestinian Peace Process. Had he and his boss, Cheney, tried to deal with this back in 2001, you can make a case that the action could have averted 9/11; for sure it would have discouraged the expansion of radicalism. Now, bush is powerless, he has no influence, he has no credibility all the while, reducing the overall global leadership of the USA.

[WilliePilgrim]

So Bush, like a trained monkey, or pop star, shows up to add celebrity to the opening of really fancy shoping center. Democracy? What? I'm sorry there's so much money falling into their bank account I couldnt quite hear what he said about that..
Bush evidently is trying to see how we can have a democratic election to outlaw freedom from religion and thought the Saudis could give him a few pointers.

[rixhex56]

This article is dead-on. One way we could have quickly begun rebuilding America's image would have been to IMPEACH Bush and Cheney. That action would have demonstrated to the world that democracy works --- when your leaders are corrupt war criminals, in a democracy you can stand up to them, remove them, and put things back on the right track. Pelosi's "impeachment is off the table" statement has got to be one of the biggest blunders in political history.

Bush is an undeniable criminal president, his administration has been a complete and total disaster in just about any measure one chooses (unless one is a member of that wealthiest 5% that has profited from Bush's criminality, and chooses that measure), he has violated international treaties to which America is a signatory, and our Constitution demands that he be removed from office. Instead of that happening, which would strengthen any case for democracy, Bush's crimes are overlooked, rationalized, excused, and like any Saudi King, Bush retains his throne. That is a fairly solid refutation of democracy.

[gardenbookie]

George's "Mirage" has given me a "Migrane".

[rboylern]

I think Mr. Bush is just too thick in the heard to understand that the Middle East actually doesn't need the US to be interfering all the time.

[FOXYLADY]

AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE...BUSH IS AN EMBARRASSMENT, PERIOD! CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW THESE SHIEKS ARE LAUGHING "UP THEIR SLEEVES, LITERALLY"? WHO THE HELL IS BUSH TO TALK TO THE WORLD AND PUSH DEMOCRACY AT THEM...WITH THAT B^%D IN OFFICE OUR "DEMOCRACY" ISN'T DOING SO WELL...SUCH HYPOCRACY!!!

[Garvagh]

Most Iraqis want the US to withdraw its military forces as soon as possible. Bush wants those forces to stay for 10 or 20 years or more. The Palestinians want an end to the occupation, and they voted for Hamas because Fatah was not trusted. Bush's response was, in effect, who cares how they voted! Stability and economic development are necessities in the Middle East if the millions of young men (and women) are to find gainful employment.

[Stavo]

One has to wonder, what is truly going through the minds of those in the Arab countries, when someone like gw bush, is trying to expand his version of history. They (Arab countries) just have to think, that America, is one crazy place to live and that it is to bad, that Americans have to select imbeciles to do their bidding. But....of course, those arab countries still show up and have their hands out, expecting some sort of reward from people like gw bush. lol

[jbowen43]

Ask the Arab citizens of Israel if they consider it to be a democracy. As for me I would say that Iran is every bit the democracy that Israel is. As for sponsoring terror, well one man's freedom fighter may be another man's terrorist but clearly Hizbollah and Hamas haven't spread any more or for that matter nearly as much terror as the IDF and the US military with their bombing of civilians and spreading yellow cluster bomblets over the land