Saturday, November 08, 2003
"Boring, empty rhetoric."
I'm having a bit of trouble sensing the gist of this story...
posted by Blicero : 11/08/2003 02:32:00 AM
Arabs Critical of Bush SpeechSo, what are they saying exactly?
Call for Mideast democracy called hypocrisy, campaign posturing
The Iranian government told President Bush to mind his own business FridayGot that, check...
"No individual, or group, has ever commissioned Mr. Bush to safeguard their rights..."O.K., fair 'nuff...
In its Friday edition, a signed editorial in the leading Lebanese daily An Nahar described the speech as "very attractive words" but said that "before they become tangible policies that deal with the real problems, they will continue to be boring, empty rhetoric."Yikes.
But a Yemeni political analyst, Mansour Hael, said Bush's words weren't even aimed at the Middle East but at an American public growing doubtful of his administration's policies. "The whole speech . . . is a campaigning thing more than a reading of the Arab reality," he said.Damn.
Abdel-Monem Said, director of Egypt's Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said questions about the Bush administration's honesty in justifying the Iraq war also tarnished its credibility. "Democracy is all about legalities, rule of law and legitimacy," he said. "There is an issue of double standards."You know, I think I'm getting the sense that Bush's speech didn't go over so well. (But that's just my opinion.)
posted by Blicero : 11/08/2003 02:32:00 AM
