A diplomatic tin ear
How absurd is it to claim Iraq as an example of the flowering of democracy on the one hand, and to deny he want to impose democracy on the other?
Bush Urges Middle East to Fight Terror with Reform
Tue Jun 29, 2004 12:43 PM ET
By Steve Holland
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Bush tried to persuade Middle Eastern states Tuesday that political reform was vital to combat extremism but said Washington would not impose democracy on the region.
Speaking with his back to the Middle Eastern side of the Bosphorus, the strait that divides Turkey, Bush argued that political change was needed to bring prosperity, to make governments more stable and to undercut support for militants.
"The historic achievement of democracy in the broader Middle East will be a victory shared by all," said Bush at the end of a five-day trip to meetings with European Union and NATO leaders.
Speaking a day after U.S.-led occupiers handed power to a United Nations-appointed interim government in Baghdad, Bush called violent Iraq "the world's newest democracy" and an example to the rest of the region of freedom flowering.
