Ms. Rice Regrets

It's safe to say that on Thanksgiving eve virtually no Americans other than staffers manning the State Department's Egypt desk are paying any attention to the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood, despite being a banned political party, has won an unprecedented number of seats in the second round of parliamentary elections in Egypt.

Since the Brotherhood is an illegal entity, the candidates beating the government's own National Democratic Party in this round were running as independents but were clearly standing on behalf of the Islamist party. This is what happens when you call or push for democracy in the Middle East.

Perhaps Hosni Mubarak is on the phone to Condoleezza Rice right now, yelling "I told you so!" over and over. "You want democracy? You'll have a bunch of Mullahs running the entire Middle East!" And he'd be right. But not for the reasons he or any other dictator or strongman would have us believe. Islamist parties would win in any free Middle Eastern elections because the corrupt, authoritarian regimes of the region have done nothing for their people but ally themselves to the West, the benefit of which is evident only to a tiny minority, i.e. the ruling classes. And in the absence of any democratic institutions, the masses turn to the mosque.

It's hard to argue with the Bush administration's call for democracy in the Middle East. Who could take exception with an American foreign policy that promotes democratic reform (except for Hosni Mubarak, the Saudi royal family, and the Sheikhs of the Gulf States)? The problem isn't the policy, the problem is that it isn't sincere. At least it doesn't look sincere to anyone paying attention, and believe me, Arabs are paying attention.
Condoleezza Rice, as Secretary of State, has often commented on elections in far off countries, in some cases countries that Americans have never heard of. Ms. Rice will praise any election that isn't an obvious joke, and that's okay. Democracy comes slowly. But as of today, neither Condi nor any other State Department official has released any statement to the press praising (or even regarding) the Egyptian parliamentary elections. Is it because Ms. Rice is embarrassed that she has so far refused to meet with any member of the Muslim Brotherhood on her trips to Cairo and they're now beating Hosni Mubarak's party fair and square? Or is it because Karen Hughes, our PR guru in charge of fixing America's image, wouldn't meet with the Brotherhood on her "listening tour" of the Middle East because she is (and as the Secretary has said) "respectful of Egypt's laws"? (See Q&A with Hughes excerpt below). Well Karen, can ya hear me now?

What's happening in Egypt should be interesting to Americans because it reflects so badly on U.S. foreign policy. An American foreign policy that has meant we have no contact with the largest opposition group in a country that is vital to the stability of the Middle East, and therefore vital to our national interests. If the Muslim Brotherhood ever end up running Egypt, either through democratic elections (which seems to be their preference) or through a coup or a revolution, just how friendly do you think they're going to be to the U.S.A.? And what of the people who turn out to vote for them? Just how friendly are they to the U.S.; a country that has either willfully or through inaction supported the imprisonment of their leaders?

This is not necessarily a Democratic or Republican issue. Administrations from both parties have been guilty of supporting tyrants and strongmen at the expense of democratic forces in developing countries. Iran is perhaps the most obvious case, a country where we had no idea that the mosque was so popular until it was far too late. And we still haven't recovered, some 26 years later. But post-9/11, and after the Bush administration has recognized (along with the rest of the world) that the U.S. has an image and credibility problem with the Muslim world, it is distressing that when it comes to U.S. policy towards the Arab world, we're still bumbling fools.

QUESTION: Are you going to meet with any opposition leaders?
UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Such as?
QUESTION: I was just…groups that would not be sanctioned by the government, for example. Groups that maybe the Egyptian government would not be comfortable with you talking to. Was there any controversy in the people that you are meeting?
UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: We're meeting with a group of opinion leaders who have a wide range of opinions on the second day of our visit and some of them don't agree with --
QUESTION: I'd like to be very specific, are you going to meet with anybody from the Muslim Brotherhood?
UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: I do not believe we're…I don't believe so.
QUESTION: And, the Muslim Brotherhood is the largest opposition group in Egypt -- so they represent a large constituency --
UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Well, we are, as the Secretary has said in the past, Jonathan, I know you've had extended conversations with her about this, we're respectful of Egypt's laws, and a, we're respectful of Egypt's laws, and it's a --
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
QUESTION: …it's a public diplomacy challenge, though, I mean, that's just regardless of what the Egyptian government --
UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: I'm going to be hearing, I think, from a wide variety of opinion leaders and meeting with a number of different religious leaders as well.