Posted on 03/05/2004 9:23:01 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Joseph Biden told Libyan parliamentarians during a visit to the North African nation that the Arab world should reject authoritarian rule and instead adopt democracy. He called on Arab countries to take on the "incredibly difficult challenge" of "empowering women, spreading knowledge and expanding freedom." Biden, a Delaware Democrat who is the ranking minority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered the speech Wednesday to the Libyan National Congress. A transcript of the speech was made available Friday by his Washington office. Biden met earlier Wednesday with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi who has been Libya's undisputed leader for more than 30 years. He then spoke to the Congress about what he saw as the need to prevent "the concentration of power into the hands of the few ... or the one." "Nothing about democracy is incompatible with Islam," Biden said, noting that decisions based on community discussions was a Muslim concept centuries ago. "Please do not misunderstand me. I mean no disrespect. But the nations of the Arab world could be doing so much more to harness the enormous potential of their people," he said. Arab countries should consider the example Spain, Biden said, pointing out that the country was part of a great Arab empire a thousand years ago. "Why did you thrive then?" he asked. "It was not your armies alone. It was your ideas, your civilization, your culture, your openness. Why has this one small territory - then called Al Andalus, now called Spain - outpaced the rest of the Arab world combined today?" "Don't take the answer from me," Biden said, citing a United Nations report on Arab human development, which recommended the granting of women's rights and an expansion of knowledge sharing and freedom as keys to a more prosperous future. Biden's visit to Libya and the invitation for him to address the Congress was another example of the rapid development of U.S. relations with its one-time rival. "By accepting responsibility for the past ... agreeing to abandon its weapons of mass destruction program ... and joining the war on terrorism ... your government is beginning to end Libya's political and economic isolation," he said. --
"Nothing about democracy is incompatible with Islam..."Thanks Joe Biden, I needed a good laugh.
I've always thought him to be one of the least intelligent politicians of this era.
Ouch, given the pickings, this is a particularly cruel plow.
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