Small program funded by George Bush played key role in Egypt
A small pro-democracy program funded by the Bush administration played a key role in ousting the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The program, which provided millions in direct funding to prodemocracy groups, helped dispatch 13,000 volunteers to observe Egypt’s parliamentary elections in December. Thousands of those monitors, angered by what they said was blatant election rigging, joined the protests. Some became outspoken leaders; others used the networking and communication skills they learned to help coordinate 18 days of rallies.As you can see in the graph above, the Obama administration cut funding for the program.
“The very fact that they saw the fraud firsthand has contributed to them turning from monitors into activists,’’ said Saad Eddin Ibrahim, founder of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, which has used a share of the US funds to train volunteers. “They became very disillusioned with the regime.’’
The evolving role of the monitors provides a measure of vindication for Bush administration officials and allies, including Elizabeth Cheney, the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, who fought for permission to funnel money to the monitors, bucking a longstanding US policy of giving Egypt a veto over US funds.
“I certainly feel vindicated,’’ said Charles King Mallory IV, a former aide to Elizabeth Cheney, who could not be reached for comment.
But it also raises questions about whether some Egyptians will see a grain of truth in Mubarak’s allegations that “foreign intervention’’ fomented the uprising.
They told me that if I voted for John McCain the American government would support dictatorships. And they were right.
Labels: Arab democracy, Barack Obama, Egyptian regime change, George W. Bush, John McCain
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:50 PM
1 Comments:
I'm somewhat reluctant to comment here, because, I love W, but I think he was wrong and Obama was right. If Cheney's daughter takes credit, and, if she's right, that's a tragedy. Better for Israel to have a cold, but stable peace with Egypt than 'let democracy flourish.'
I'm ashamed to admit I feel like I do because 'we are supposed to believe democracy heals all wounds' but the 'best friends' Israel has and has had are autocrats like King Hussein and Sadat and their successors. Maybe Morocco which is also an autocracy.
I don't like the word neoconservative because it's usually, but not always, codeword for Jew, but the basic essence of neoconservative thought is to spread democracy to the world, unleash freedom. It sounds great but is democracy compatible with a traditional Islamic society? One with high rates of illiteracy?
Yes. democracy is compatible with the likes of The Sandmonkey(who is a true hero) and the other educated youth of Cairo(probably a few hundred thousand). But is this representative?
Maybe neoconservatives will be right in the long run? In Iraq and Egypt et al. But how long is the long run???
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