"We have given tyranny the patience of decades ..."
Fouad Ajami on the state of the Middle East:
The belligerence that was loose in the peninsula two or three years earlier appears milder now, as new ideas of tolerance struggle to take hold. This assertion by George W. Bush that despotism need not be the Arab destiny is about the only bond between the United States and the Arab world. In its optimism, this diplomacy of freedom recalls that brief moment after the Great War when Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points held out the promise of liberty to those Arab and Muslim lands. To be sure, there are the "usual suspects" among the Arabs who are averse to the message and to the American messenger, and our pollsters and reporters know the way to them. But this crowd does not reflect the broader demand for a new political way. We have given tyranny the patience of decades. Surely we ought to be able to extend a measure of indulgence to freedom's meandering path.
The belligerence that was loose in the peninsula two or three years earlier appears milder now, as new ideas of tolerance struggle to take hold. This assertion by George W. Bush that despotism need not be the Arab destiny is about the only bond between the United States and the Arab world. In its optimism, this diplomacy of freedom recalls that brief moment after the Great War when Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points held out the promise of liberty to those Arab and Muslim lands. To be sure, there are the "usual suspects" among the Arabs who are averse to the message and to the American messenger, and our pollsters and reporters know the way to them. But this crowd does not reflect the broader demand for a new political way. We have given tyranny the patience of decades. Surely we ought to be able to extend a measure of indulgence to freedom's meandering path.
posted by Kate Marie | 11:23 AM | Permalink
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2 comments
2 Comments:
KM, as usual you find great quotes. Thanks.
I notice that since the Superbowl, you are the only Rumpus member left blogging. That must have been some kind of party. I suppose the Dogs (and vegan) were asserting their manliness drinking too many cold Danish brewskis, eh?
Yeah, the Dogs definitely need a few days to recover, but come on, it's Tuesday evening. I expected Wonderdog to be all over the Danish cartoon thing.
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