ADVANCE Democracy Act of 2005 | two dictatorships a year?

[nostamj]

not sure how I missed this...

All democracy, all the time
A new bill proposes to rid the world of dictators by 2025. But critics deride it as a pie-in-the-sky cover for Bush's failures.

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If enacted, the new bill -- the ADVANCE (which stands for Advance Democratic Values, Address Nondemocratic Countries, and Enhance) Democracy Act of 2005, introduced into both houses on March 3 -- would bring about a fundamental change in U.S. foreign policy. To maintain a regional balance of power, ensure access to vital resources, and pursue larger national security goals such as the "war on terror," the United States has traditionally worked with dictators big and small, from the tyrants of the past (such as Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua) to current autocratic allies (such as Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan and Crown Prince Abdullah in Saudi Arabia). The ADVANCE Democracy Act, the foreign policy version of "Just Say No," on the other hand, would attempt to steer the United States away from engaging with tyrants under any circumstances.

<snip>

Specifically, the act would put democracy promotion at the top of the State Department's agenda. It would establish a new Office of Democratic Movements and Transitions, require the State Department to issue an annual democracy report, and set up an advisory board of nongovernmental VIPs to evaluate all democracy-promotion activities and spending.

<snip>

Initially funded at $250 million for two years, the act would direct resources to pro-democracy movements worldwide. The bill proposes to turn U.S. embassies into "islands of freedom" and align U.S. diplomats with pro-democracy movements in nondemocratic countries -- linking performance pay and promotions of Foreign Service officers to their efforts to spread democracy. The bill would also authorize the president to block financial flows to states that resisted democratization.

This plan to upend the world's remaining dictatorships (there are more than 40, according to the nongovernmental organization Freedom House) began with former U.S. ambassador to Hungary Mark Palmer and his 2003 book, "Breaking the Real Axis of Evil." "Some people think a world without tyrants is utopian," Palmer says. "And they think it's more utopian to have a deadline." But, Palmer says, "we're down to a limited number of dictators, and it's entirely feasible to get the rest of them out. Most are pretty creaky and won't even live until 2025!"

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/03/15/democracy_act/index.html

[Frederik]

1. "Islands of freedom"...

Orwellian. This is of course really about eradicating opposition to the global(ist) economic order and trying to prevent "dictators" like Hugo Chavez from impairing America's energy supplies.

[FreedomAngel82]

2. This is a joke I think

You can't rid the world of dictators. We might wanna start with the one in the White House who thinks he's a god or king of the world. I don't think the dictators of the world are going to let king George, the hypocrite, take them out of office. I think king George wants people to be his "yes" people across the world so the PNACers can do their thing.

[nostamj]

3. it's no joke...

http://www.aei.org/research/nai/publications/pubID.22078,projectID.11/pub_detail.asp

and mccain and LIEBERMAN are the authors!

[nostamj]

4. kick