Democracy's Champion?

Not in Iraq/Taiwan/India/Iran, and Especially not in South America.

I read another article this morning on our pResident Bush, covering the visit of Communist China Premiere Wen. It brought into sharp contrast the shift that we�ve had in perception globally, as well as action. In the aforementioned countries under Bush, we�ve favored the repressive regimes over the democratic option: Bush came out in support of Wen by condemning "the comments and actions made by the leader of Taiwan". What did the president of Taiwan call for? A simple ballot referendum for the Taiwanese � whether to stay pat or officially declare independence. Wen�s response? To position more than the 500 missiles already pointed at the island, and say that they will resolve the issue by force, damn the consequence.
In the India/Pakistan conflict, the Bush America team has thrown it�s support behind Pakistan, run by a military dictator who came to power in a bloody coup, whose country has been the hiding place for Afghani insurgents as well as Muslim conscripts against the US forces and whose country blew up the Indian Congress while in session.
In Iraq, we have installed Paul Bremmer, the living embodiment of the �Duke� character from the Doonesbury Comic strip, who has shut down all Iraqi newspapers/TV/Radio outlets. They�ve repelled all Iraqi citizens who were elected officials post invasion, who do not read off of the same script.
Iran was already implementing Western social standards and even had already formed their own versions of McDonalds, KFC and Coca Cola. But the �Axis of Evil� labeling and saber rattling shifted that populace to renewed acknowledgement of the radical Mullahs & Ayatollahs. So much for supporting that democratically elected president and his struggle, which he was winning, to bring Iran to secular world citizenry over isolated theocracy.
While valid arguments can be made for the quid pro quo in each circumstance, it�s inescapable in the realization that our moral obligation of being Democracy�s champion & Evangelist is a far second to the political designs of staying in power by this administration. More specifically &, above all, to avoid one more foreign policy crisis during an election year. But in avoiding a headache for himself, he demonstrated again how malleable is his commitment to the defense of freedom as a guiding principle of U.S. policy.


[Edited on 10-12-2003 by Bout Time]

"When the U.S. invasion came last spring with promises of democracy and self-rule, people in Karbala were among the first to try and take charge of their own affairs.

Religious and community leaders got together and selected a city council to represent them, and a security force to protect them. They had assumed that their experiment in democracy would be applauded by the American military.
It was not. U.S. troops disarmed the protection force, arrested popular city councilmen and put back into power some of the same people who had served Saddam. "
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�The expectations were that the Baathists would be immediately arrested and put on trial for their crimes against humanity, for their crimes against the Iraqi people. Now this hasn't happened. And people were alarmed when the Ba'athists were actually reinstated back into government,� says Shahristani, citing that a lot of ex-Baathists still hold positions in the police department.
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When the U.S. Marines pulled into town, their American commander decided to install as police chief Gen. Abbas Fathil Abud, a high-ranking member of the Baath Party, who had served Saddam for 24 years.

When 60 Minutes arrived at his office, he was closeted with U.S. military officers and protected by American troops.

�There is a lot of cooperation between us and the American military police,� says Gen. Abud.

Even though Ambassador Paul Bremer is on record saying that no high-ranking members of Saddam's old Baath Party will hold power in Iraq, in Karbala, the U.S. government is cooperating with Gen. Abud and has put him in charge of a well-armed force � even though he is a Baathist.

www.cbsnews.com...

Originally posted by Bout Time
"When the U.S. invasion came last spring with promises of democracy and self-rule, people in Karbala were among the first to try and take charge of their own affairs.



www.cbsnews.com...

well ok you got this article for a main stream media that is ruled but the DEMONCRACKS!!!!!!!

[Edited on 10-12-2003 by Russian]

I understand your distrust, Russian, but B-T is correct in all the points made.

Russian, you are thinking that there is still a Republican party, but there is not. They are Republicrats, now.
I am sorry.
We have two parties that are controlling the political scene of this country that have little positional difference between them and there is no quick way to repair this problem. Were we to all vote for a party that was in line with the Founding Fathers and that wanted to repair the decades of damage, we would have a chance. Other than that, you might want to tread what Brotehr James said in Paper#46.

Russian

If the US is perceived as not being Democracy's Champion, then the world is lost.
All things we do as a country will be suspect, due to our lone superpower status, no matter how altruistic.