I didn't see it, but here's the first reaction of one of the WaPo's editors, who's doing an online chat about it
here:
- We saw again today, I thought, how good President Bush’s speechwriters are. These are wordsmiths of the first rank. It was a lovely speech.
But what did it mean? I confess to feeling there’s something of a contradiction between his ringing endorsement of freedom everywhere and his administration’s dependence on some of the ugliest, least free governments in Asia and the Middle East to prosecute the war on terrorism. If, as Bush said today, “it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture,” what about Egypt? Pakistan? Uzbekistan? Kazakhstan? Saudi Arabia? None of these is remotely free, yet the Bush administration never criticizes or pressures them in any visible way. How can the imprisoned dissidents in all those countries possibly take the President's words seriously?
These were my thought when I heard what Bush's themes were going to be. Apart from invading Iraq, is there anything much that he's done to promote democracy anywhere?
Anyone hear the speech?
