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Arabs Bristle at Bush's Agenda for Region

(New York Times) Hassan M. Fattah - Saudi and Egyptian reformers bristled Thursday at President Bush's call in his State of the Union address for greater reform in their countries, dismissing the speech as patronizing and unproductive. Saudi commentator Khalid al-Farm, head of the Arab Media Association, said: "In essence he's saying the same thing we are, but all he's doing is putting the government and the reformers in a tight position." "These blunt American statements exert a kind of political and psychological pressure that backfires within segments of the Egyptian population because it makes the sincere demands of Egyptian activists and politicians seem like mere echoes of the American stand," said Dr. Hassan Abou Taleb, editor in chief of The Arab Strategic Report published by the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. "These are all intrinsic Egyptian demands that have been around for more than 25 years, not merely an echo of American calls in the past two years," he said.
2005-02-04 00:00:00
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