So just how is that spreadin' democracy in the Middle East thing goin'? In particular, how's it going in the country we give more foreign aid to than all but one other country in the entire world?
Throughout the three rounds of the election, police and mobs organized by the ruling party tried to scare voters away from the polls and human rights groups complained of vote-buying and ballot box-stuffing. Then, on Wednesday, the final day of voting, eight people were killed by police, bringing the death toll of the month-long voting period to 10.
Oh yeah, we're really pushing hard for democratic reforms and in Egypt, aren't we? Not.
And of course to the degree that opponents of the current dictator could actually cast votes for other leaders, who did they choose? Why the Muslim Brotherhood of course.
The contrast underscored a stunning shift in Egyptian politics. The Tomorrow Party and other legal, secular opposition groups were all but wiped out in the election -- together, they won no more than 10 seats. Candidates running as independents but representing the Muslim Brotherhood, which is formally banned from politics, won 88 seats and became the leading voice of dissent against President Hosni Mubarak's quarter-century rule.
So to sum up our Middle East policies in the Bush administration are that 1) we don't like and support authoritarian tyrants - except of course when we do like and support them, and 2) we want more elections in the region - though apparently that will often be to the benefit of staunchly Islamist parties, who may have some really nasty allies.
Posted by armand at December 10, 2005 11:39 AM | TrackBack | Posted to International Affairs