Bush To Give Major Speech Thurs On Spreading Democracy

[peterh]

*DJ Bush To Say Democracy Needed In Parts Of Mid-East, Asia

(sorry – no link yet)

hmmmm….what does the little critter have up his sleeve this time?

on edit: still no link, but here's the text...


WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--President George W. Bush will give a major policy
speech Thursday in which he will say that more democracy and freedom are needed
in both the Middle East and in parts of Asia.
During his speech, the president will cite specific countries that need to
move toward greater freedom, including Burma, North Korea and China. He will
also point to some countries in the Middle East that have taken tentative steps
toward greater freedom and democracy, such as Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia,
Bush's National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday.
However, while the president will mention the need for more freedom in Asia,
Rice said the focus will be on the Middle East.
"He will focus on the fact the region that has been most deprived of freedom
is the Middle East and most of the speech is about the new opportunities for a
forward strategy for freedom in the Middle East," Rice said.
Rice said the speech will mark a break with six decades of U.S. policy toward
the Middle East, which previously focused on maintaining stability in the
region. Rice said this strategy appears to have failed.
"What we found is that we did not buy security and stability but rather
frustration and pent-up emotions and a region that has fallen behind in terms of
prosperity, and, in fact, continues to produce ideologies of hatred," she added.
Rice said the speech will build on an address the president gave last spring
in which he said one of the central goals of the war in Iraq would be
establishing democracy in Iraq. The speech Thursday will broaden the theme and
say more freedom and democracy is needed throughout the Middle East.