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