President Obama clearly underestimated how sick the young people of Egypt are with their dictator Hosni Mubarak. In his big speech today at Cairo University, he waited for applause after he said:
“I know there has been controversy about the promotion of democracy in recent years, and much of this controversy is connected to the war in Iraq. So let me be clear: No system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other.”
But there was no applause. Obama was so accustomed to wild ovations from American Democrats to lines like this, he was taken by surprise by the awkward silence. He quickly got the point: Unlike the Democrats of the United States, the small-d democrats of Egypt are far less upset that the U.S. removed a dictator from Iraq than they are that the U.S. hasn’t more forcefully urged the end of dictatorship in Egypt.
The freedom agenda. But other than Obama’s tiptoeing around Mubarak’s failure to allow free and fair elections, Obama delighted the Egyptian students (and me) with his talk of democracy. Immediately after the line about imposing government systems on others, he said:
That does not lessen my commitment, however, to governments that reflect the will of the people. Each nation gives life to this principle in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election. But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn’t steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.
There is no straight line to realize this promise. But this much is clear: governments that protect these rights are ultimately more stable, successful and secure. Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments – provided they govern with respect for all their people.
This last point is important because there are some who advocate for democracy only when they are out of power; once in power, they are ruthless in suppressing the rights of others. No matter where it takes hold, government of the people and by the people sets a single standard for all who hold power: you must maintain your power through consent, not coercion; you must respect the rights of minorities, and participate with a spirit of tolerance and compromise; you must place the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party. Without these ingredients, elections alone do not make true democracy.
Comfort to Mubarak. That last line was the only poorly chosen one, not that is isn’t true. (Free and regular elections are only one part of democracy.) But by first avoiding a call for free elections in all Muslim nations, and then ending with words that don’t exactly support free elections, Obama gave comfort to dictators like Mubarak. He apparently was trying to avoid insulting his host, but it was at the expense of speaking the words all tyrants need to hear: Who elected you?
Obama had a strong statement on women’s rights in majority-Muslim nations:
“I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality.”
The big question of the day is whether the president’s words on Israel and Palestine won more Arab support for a peaceful resolution to that long conflict. Stay tuned.
Frank Warner
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See also: Diogenes in the White House: The freedom a cynic can’t grasp.
See also: Freedom Count in Bush’s farewell: 12, high.
See also: Obama on Iraq success: 54 ways not to say ‘democracy’ (at Camp Lejeune).
See also: Obama in Camp Victory: U.S. troops won Iraq a chance for ‘a democratic country.’
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