Unfortunately, the left is still behind the times when it comes to the actual Bush Doctrine. They misinterpret it -- "Bush wanted only democratic institutions" -- and forget Bush's call for freedom and democracy to act in unison. Hence, the left wants to grant full status to Hamas, to the Muslim Brotherhood, to anyone with popular appeal. They don't understand that true democracy is not a set of institutions, but a mindset that comes with strings attached.
Nonetheless, the Obama administration is trying to get it right now. They have a long way to go. They could start by correctly interpreting the Bush Doctrine and thanking Bush for handing its legacy to them. While the press suggests that a self-immolating Tunisian vegetable seller triggered the nascent revolutions in Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, and Yemen, would those revolutions have been remotely imaginable, let alone gotten off the ground, without nearly a decade of Bush-promoted freedom in the Middle East? After all, it was President Bush who, in 2003, asked of a global audience, "Are the peoples of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty? Are millions of men and women and children condemned by history or culture to live in despotism? Are they alone never to know freedom and never even to have a choice in the matter?" The left-wing partisans in America tried to shout down and even ridicule the president, but clearly, his words resonated in the Middle East.
Click here for the rest of the story.
No comments:
Post a Comment