Posted on 02/28/2003 9:44:07 AM PST by knighthawk
Iraq dismisses latest ‘democracy’ speech
SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri slammed US President George W. Bush Thursday as “a maniac” a day after the US leader declared that deposing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would help build democracy and peace in the Middle East.
“He’s a maniac and mad, that’s all I have to say,” Sabri said at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where he and his regional counterparts were meeting ahead of an Arab summit Saturday.
Bush, building his case for war, said Wednesday that a new government in Iraq could feed a democratic movement across the Middle East, and vowed the United States would only stay in Iraq as long as necessary.
“A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region, by bringing hope and progress into the lives of millions,” he told the American Enterprise Institute in a nationally televised speech.
His address was aimed in part at answering Arab states and European allies who angrily denounce the prospect of war, fearing it could destabilize the volatile Middle East and further complicate the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
“After defeating enemies, we did not leave behind occupying armies, we left constitutions and Parliaments,” Bush said. “There was a time when many said that the cultures of Japan and Germany were incapable of sustaining democratic values. Well, they were wrong. Some say the same of Iraq today. They are mistaken.”
But Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher stressed Thursday that democracy must come from “within.”
“We have made important progress in this field and we will continue to do so. It is very important for political openness and democracy to come from within,” he said.
Bush also said success in Iraq could begin a new stage for Middle East peace and set in motion progress toward a democratic Palestinian state.
“The passing of Saddam Hussein’s regime will deprive terrorist networks of a wealthy patron that pays for terrorist training, and offers rewards to families of suicide bombers. And other regimes will be given clear warning that support for terror will not be tolerated.” The Israeli government Thursday backed Bush’s linking of the toppling Saddam to the creation of a Palestinian state, but chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat dismissed Bush’s comments as “strange,” and he criticized Washington for treating the Jewish state as “above the law.”
A senior Israeli government official said that Israel “supports the remarks by President Bush which added nothing new to the ‘vision’ of the future of the Middle East which he made in his speech on June 24 last year.”
The Palestinian minister said that Bush’s remarks were “a strange proposal.”
“If the Iraqi issue is linked to the Palestinian question and the creation of a Palestinian state, then America is using double standards,” Erekat said, slamming the way Washington deals with Israel “as the last occupying country in the world and a country above the law.”
“The basis for creating a Palestinian state is putting an end to the occupation which prevents the Palestinian people from living a normal life and especially prevents the holding of elections and the existence of a democratic process,” he added.
Erekat said that Bush knew “perfectly well” that Sharon’s new right-wing government “will continue to expand settlements, increase the violence and destroy this vision.”
Saddam has repeatedly accused the United States of pursuing war only to gain control of Iraqi oil, but Washington has repeatedly denied the charge.
“We will seek to protect Iraq’s natural resources from sabotage by a dying regime, and ensure they are used for the benefit of Iraq’s own people,” Bush said. “We will ensure that one brutal dictator is not replaced by another.
I thought Arafat was "elected"?
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