Why was he giving a speach such as this to NED? I swear they are the shadow govt. That is why Wesley Clark is going to win unless Bush's ratings with the people go up with these wars he is about to start. I wrote a post on here about the people involved in NED and their shady ties.
If this is the speech he gave to them. I wonder what one he will give the nation tonite.
Ruled by emotions.. full of fear... tinfoil hat wearing... Say what you wish. But I hope you enjoy perpetual war for freedom and democracy!
Link to article
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) on Thursday challenged Iran and Syria and even key U.S. ally Egypt to adopt democracy and declared past U.S. policy of supporting non-democratic Arab leaders a failure.
Calling for democracy throughout the Middle East, Bush said in a sweeping foreign policy speech: "Are the peoples of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty? ... I, for one, do not believe it."
Speaking to the National Endowment for Democracy, where President Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) spoke on global democracy 20 years ago, Bush said U.S. policy spanning 60 years in support of governments not devoted to political freedom had failed and Washington had adopted a new, "forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East."
"Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe, because in the long run stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty," Bush said.
Bush did not say what measures the United States might take to prod Middle Eastern nations toward democratic reform. Egypt, for example, receives $2 billion a year in assistance but there was no sign the White House was prepared to reduce such aid as an incentive.
Washington has for decades supported authoritarian governments throughout much of the Muslim world, including Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, as well as Egypt, that are seen by many of their own citizens as corrupt and illegitimate in both political and religious terms.
This support, in turn, has aggravated anti-American sentiment in the region, with opposition groups saying withdrawal of U.S. backing would open the way to popular, democratic change.
It was Bush's latest attempt to justify the invasion of Iraq (news - web sites) as necessary to foster democracy in the region at a time when he is under fire for mounting U.S. troop casualties.
He singled out Iran and Syria for particular criticism. The United States believes Iran's Islamic government is holding back a democratic movement and has been trying to build a nuclear weapon. Washington considers Syria a terrorist state.
Bush cited the crowds that welcomed home Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize, as evidence of a grass-roots movement for Iranian democracy.
"The regime in Tehran must heed the democratic demands of the Iranian people or lose its last claim to legitimacy," Bush said.
He said Syrian leaders as well as those ousted in Iraq had promised a restoration of ancient glories but instead left "a legacy of torture, oppression, misery and ruin."
Of Egypt, whose president, Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites), has been a vital Middle East interlocutor for successive U.S. presidents, Bush said: "The great and proud nation of Egypt has shown the way toward peace in the Middle East and now should show the way toward democracy in the Middle East."
Bush praised what he called positive developments toward democracy taking place in Morocco, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen, Jordan and even Saudi Arabia, which is taking its first, hesitant steps toward liberalization.
Bush, whose Middle East peace "road map" is in tatters due to renewed Israeli-Palestinian violence, accused Palestinian leaders of blocking democratic reform, prompting a response from Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat.
He urged Bush "to begin his vision for democracy in the Middle East by helping the Palestinians to hold free and fair presidential and legislative local elections."
"We've been trying to hold these elections for a long time but have failed due to the Israeli occupation," Erekat said.
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