MEDIA REACTION: DEMOCRACY AND ARAB HYPOCRISY

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 005130

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA;
INR/NESA; INR/B; IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR MOC, GOLDRICH
PARIS FOR O'FRIEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP, KMDR, TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: DEMOCRACY AND ARAB HYPOCRISY


1. SUMMARY: IN A RARE ARTICLE PRAISING THE U.S., UAE COLUMNIST
LAUDS THE AMERICAN INITIATIVE TO DEMOCRATIZE THE ARAB AND MUSLIM
WORLD AND BLAMES ARAB INTELLECTUALS FOR REJECTING THE CALL FOR
DEMOCRACY SIMPLY BECAUSE IT CAME FROM THE WEST AND THE U.S. END
SUMMARY.

2. UNDER THE HEADLINE "WHY WE REJECT DEMOCRACY," UAE COLUMNIST
ABDULLAH RASHEED WROTE 12/01 IN ABU DHABI-BASED SEMI-OFFICIAL
ARABIC DAILY "AL-ITTIHAD":

"MOST OF THE INTELLECTUAL ELITES IN THE ARAB WORLD SUFFER A STATE
OF TOTAL SCHIZOPHRENIA ABOUT THEIR REALITY AND THEIR BELIEFS AND
PRINCIPLES. FOR MANY YEARS, ARAB INTELLECTUALS HAVE BEEN URGING
THEIR GOVERNMENTS, REGIMES AND LEADERS TO ALLOW DEMOCRATIC
REFORMS INTO ARAB COUNTRIES, LINKING THEIR OPPOSITION TO THOSE
REGIMES TO THEIR DEMANDS TO INTRODUCE THE WESTERN MODEL OF
DEMOCRACY INTO THEIR NATIONS. NOT ONLY THIS, BUT THEY HAVE
LAUDED AND PRAISED THE PRINCIPLES OF WESTERN DEMOCRACY AND HOW
THE SITUATION WOULD BE ONCE THE REGIMES IN THEIR COUNTRIES TURN
INTO WESTERN-MODEL FREE DEMOCRACIES.. TODAY, THE WEST, LED BY THE
U.S., IS PROVIDING A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE ARAB PEOPLE TO
INTRODUCE DEMOCRACY INTO ARAB COUNTRIES, COUPLED WITH WESTERN AND
AMERICAN PRESSURE ON THE ARAB REGIMES AND GOVERNMENTS TO CONSIDER
THE ARAB INDIVIDUAL'S HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTRODUCE DEMOCRATIC
REFORMS."

3. "NOT ONLY THAT, THE U.S. IS PROVIDING A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY,
FOR THE FIST TIME IN ARAB-AMERICAN RELATIONS, TO THE ARAB
INDIVIDUAL BY FORCING THOSE REGIMES TO ALLOW SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY,
STEMMING FROM THE WEST AND AMERICA'S BELIEF THAT THEY MUST CHANGE
THEIR FOREIGN POLICIES AND TURN TO DEALING WITH DEMOCRATIC
GOVERNMENTS AND PEOPLE INSTEAD OF DEALING WITH DICTATORS. FOR
MANY DECADES, THE WEST ALWAYS DEALT WITH TOTALITARIAN REGIMES
THAT DID NOT RECOGNIZE THE INDIVIDUAL'S FREEDOM, HIS POLITICAL
RIGHTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN GENERAL, UNTIL IT FOUND OUT THAT THEY
HARVESTED A BITTER LEGACY OUT OF THIS STRATEGY AND REALIZED THAT
DEALING WITH NON-DEMOCRATIC REGIMES HAS LED THESE SOCIETIES TO
HATCH EXTREMISM, DESTRUCTIVE INTELLECTS AND TERRORISTS.. WESTERN
TAX PAYERS, STRATEGISTS AND INTELLECTUALS HAVE BEGUN TO WONDER
ABOUT LINKING THEIR COUNTRIES' INTERESTS AND FOREIGN POLICIES
WITH NON-DEMOCRATIC REGIMES AND ARE CALLING TO END THIS
RELATIONSHIP AND ALSO TO SEEK MEANS AND METHODS TO TURN ARAB
SOCIETIES THAT HAVE NEVER KNOWN ANY DEMOCRACY INTO REGIMES THAT
DEAL WITH THEIR PEOPLE IN A DEMOCRATIC AND CIVILIZED MANNER."

4. "THE WEST IS SERIOUS ABOUT TURNING ARAB REGIMES INTO
DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS BECAUSE THIS REALIZES ITS INTERESTS BEFORE IT
REALIZES THE INTERESTS OF THE ARAB PEOPLE THEMSELVES, YET MOST
ARAB INTELLECTUALS ARE UNAWARE OF THIS FACT. THEREFORE, AS SOON
AS THE CALL TO DEMOCRATIZE ARAB SOCIETIES AND NATIONS WAS
LAUNCHED, OPPOSITION VOICES CAME VERY LOUD REJECTING ANY TALK
ABOUT DEMOCRACY SIMPLY BECAUSE THE CALL HAS COME FROM THE U.S.
AND THE WEST IN GENERAL. WHAT IS STRANGE IS THAT THOSE WHO
RAISE THE SLOGANS OF REJECTING THE DEMOCRACY WERE, UNTIL
RECENTLY, PRO-DEMOCRACY AND THEY WERE IN A STATE OF CLASH
DEFENDING THE MODEL OF WESTERN DEMOCRACY. TODAY, AND BECAUSE THE
INVITATION CAME FROM THE U.S. THEY HAVE BEGUN TO SEARCH FOR
FAULTS IN THE WESTERN DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM."

ALBRIGHT