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| Europe |
| Bush Pushes Democratic Reform in Mideast |
| 2004-06-30 |
| President Bush urged the Muslim world on Tuesday to put aside suspicion and hatred toward the West and embrace democracy, saying that does not mean Arab nations have to accept American pop culture. A day after an interim government took political control in Iraq, Bush said "freedom is the future of the Middle East." Mideast leaders, including "some friends of the United States, must recognize the direction of events," he said. Bush spoke outdoors at Galatasaray University under a bright sun on the shore of the Bosporus. Acknowledging a clash of cultures, Bush said, "Some people in Muslim cultures identify democracy with the worst of Western popular culture and want no part of it. And I assure them, when I speak about the blessings of liberty, coarse videos and crass commercialism are not what I have in mind." He added: "There is nothing incompatible between democratic values and high standards of decency." Similarly, Bush said democratic values do not require people to abandon their faith. "No democracy can allow religious people to impose their own view of perfection on others, because this invites cruelty and arrogance that are foreign to every faith," the president said. Bush decried prejudice and fears in America as well as the Middle East. "When some in my country speak in an ill-informed and insulting manner about the Muslim faith, their words are heard abroad and do great harm to our cause in the Middle East," Bush said. "When some in the Muslim world incite hatred and murder with conspiracy theories and propaganda, their words are also heard by a generation of young Muslims who need truth and hope, not lies and anger," he said. Bush said democratic countries can have their own traditions and cultures and do not have to agree with each other. "Free governments have a reputation for independence, which Turkey has certainly earned," Bush said. "That is the way democracy works." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 I will not "lighten up", #5, until the WH takes off its rose colored glasses and recognizes the dangers posed by the religion of Islam. If this WOT is supposed to be a war of ideas, then there has to be a realistic clue about the ideology we are up against or the solutions we come up with will not do the job to allow us to prevail. #3...I'm sure you are trying to be the best you can be. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-06-30 3:47:09 PM |
| #5 Come on Rex, lighten up. It's called sweet-talking. And the real message is directed at the EU: Must be Thanksgiving soon, cause Turkey's at the door. Knock, knock, Chirac. |
| Posted by: Crikey 2004-06-30 12:17:33 PM |
| #4 President Bush is elevating Turkey at this particular juncture of time because it's a secular democracy with a Muslim majority that is doing better all the time in the modern world. (He takes full aim at the EUro's tacit complacent policy of "White Man's Burden" in regard to countries that aren't in Western Europe.) Bush is most definitely not promoting IslamoFacist values--quite the contrary. |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-06-30 11:46:48 AM |
| #3 'I find that type of moral equivalence objectionable quite frankly.' So objectionable that you did the same, the very next breath!!!! 'What Al Jazeera does with its yellow journalism and the Saudi Princes do by funding hate schools is hardly the same as hunorous comments on conservative websites and on talk radio' |
| Posted by: Anonymous5477 2004-06-30 11:38:21 AM |
| #2 I reckon Bush is fighting them on the beaches. He is in the trenches doing his goddam best to further the cause. GO, BUSH GO!!!! That man is MUCH smarter than anybody gives him credit for. That he can still be underestimated after all he's done amazes me, and gives me hope that he can win the election in November. Doctor Who, if you're out there, I replied to your post from yesterday. |
| Posted by: Anon1 2004-06-30 9:26:44 AM |
| #1 Sadly, GWB believes this crock. It's speeches like this that make me want to gag because of his genuflecting to the Muslim world and even going so far as putting down our culture. What was he thinking when he derides our "coarse videos" ?? Excuse me, Mr. President but I think the Islamic world wins the prize in the contest of "coarse videos." Or when he puts on the same footing:"When some in my country speak in an ill-informed and insulting manner about the Muslim faith..." with "When some in the Muslim world incite hatred and murder with conspiracy theories and propaganda..." I find that type of moral equivalence objectionable quite frankly. What Al Jazeera does with its yellow journalism and the Saudi Princes do by funding hate schools is hardly the same as hunorous comments on conservative websites and on talk radio. Give me a break. And puhleaze don't make excuses for GWB with "he's only saying these things because he is trying to win over friendly Islamic countries..." GWB can be gracious to the Muslim leaders without putting our culture and values down and groveling. What "high standards of decency" does GWB see in the Muslim world...is it the polygamy? is it stoning of gays? or perhaps is it torture of children? Which of this short list of Stone Age behavior constitutes "high standards of decency", Mr. President, enquiring minds want to know. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-06-30 5:36:51 AM |