The King of Jordan, Like about 3 Billion Other People, Disagree with Dubya
"King of Jordan: New Iraqi Government Could Be Disastrous
George W. Bush's promise to bring democracy to Iraq and the Middle East is a grave mistake. That at least is the widespread view among Arab leaders, including the moderate, pro-American leadership of Jordan.
'You cannot have proper elections with violence occurring. The Americans are wrong to think that violence will end with the elections. If anything it will get worse, much worse,"says Mr Zaid El-Rifal, president of the Jordanian Senate.
'If democracy, real democracy, were established across the Middle East, every country would be an enemy of the United States. To have a stable democracy - one that nurtures the values that the West appreciates - there needs to be a core middle class,' says Mr El-Rifal, adding, 'But this is lacking in most Middle Eastern states where the majority live below the poverty line. That's why democracy will feed extremism.'
In recent weeks, the young King of Jordan, Abdullah the Second, has warned Washington that the elections in Iraq set - at U.S. insistence - for January 30th should be delayed.
Far from solving Iraq's problems, all the signs are that the elections could trigger a crisis of untold proportions across the Middle East. The Sunni boycott, the attacks on candidates by insurgents and the numerical superiority of the Shiite population, all suggest Baghdad will have a Shiite government.
Such a result, the King and other leaders in the region fear, could be disastrous for both Iraq and the peace of the region.
Why?"
Answers
George W. Bush's promise to bring democracy to Iraq and the Middle East is a grave mistake. That at least is the widespread view among Arab leaders, including the moderate, pro-American leadership of Jordan.
'You cannot have proper elections with violence occurring. The Americans are wrong to think that violence will end with the elections. If anything it will get worse, much worse,"says Mr Zaid El-Rifal, president of the Jordanian Senate.
'If democracy, real democracy, were established across the Middle East, every country would be an enemy of the United States. To have a stable democracy - one that nurtures the values that the West appreciates - there needs to be a core middle class,' says Mr El-Rifal, adding, 'But this is lacking in most Middle Eastern states where the majority live below the poverty line. That's why democracy will feed extremism.'
In recent weeks, the young King of Jordan, Abdullah the Second, has warned Washington that the elections in Iraq set - at U.S. insistence - for January 30th should be delayed.
Far from solving Iraq's problems, all the signs are that the elections could trigger a crisis of untold proportions across the Middle East. The Sunni boycott, the attacks on candidates by insurgents and the numerical superiority of the Shiite population, all suggest Baghdad will have a Shiite government.
Such a result, the King and other leaders in the region fear, could be disastrous for both Iraq and the peace of the region.
Why?"
Answers
posted by S. Paine at 4:20 PM
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