THE STABLE BUSH (via Kevin Whited):

Bush Sr. clarifies 'Chicken Kiev' speech (Natalia A. Feduschak, May 24, 2004, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)

Former President George Bush, the latest in a string of prominent American visitors to Ukraine, said last week that what became known as his "Chicken Kiev" speech in 1991 was misunderstood by his critics.

In that speech, delivered in Kiev months before a referendum in which Ukrainians voted to withdraw from the Soviet Union, Mr. Bush cautioned against "suicidal nationalism."

The remarks subsequently were derided as lacking sufficient resolve against communism and, in any case, had little impact on the referendum, which passed overwhelmingly.

Back in Kiev last week during a European tour to raise support for his son's re-election campaign, Mr. Bush insisted that both Ukrainians and the Western press had missed his point.

The message he had wanted to send was that Ukrainians should not do "something stupid," he said. "If your leaders hadn't acted smartly, there would have been a crackdown" from Moscow.

Mr. Bush told an audience of students and other invited guests that Washington had felt a "sense of relief" when 90 percent of Ukrainians voted for independence. "What transpired 13 years ago marked a new, hopeful chapter for mankind," he said.

Interesting that the senior Mr. Bush has to go to Eastern Europe to apologize for being on the wrong side of History and underestimating their desire for freedom, but twenty years from now folks will be apologizing to his son for underestimating how much the Middle East desired the same.

The state of dis-Arabia (Claude Salhani, 5/24/2004, UPI) -- If Arab leaders gathered in a summit meeting in Tunis this past weekend were to qualify for a report card, most would score low marks for lack of progress, absence of political freedom, deficit of democracy and human rights abuses.

While the developed world has progressed over the last decade, the Arab world has largely stagnated, lamented Turki al-Hammad, a Jordanian-born political scientist.

"The whole world has changed but the Middle East has not," said al-Hammad, adding the reason the area remained in conflict was "because the Middle East is going backward instead of forward." [...]

While the Middle East regressed politically, Europe, meanwhile, particularly the "New Europe," has been the most successful Cinderella story of the planet. The former Eastern Bloc has shed the chains of communism, and in light years leaps and bounds joined the 21st century, leaving the Middle East behind in its dust.

Despite its richness in natural resources, the Middle East continues to lag behind the rest of the developed world in bringing about democratic reforms. The proliferation of the Internet, cellular telephones and satellite television has allowed many Arabs greater access to information than ever before, yet, as Secretary of State Colin Powell pointed out, the entire Arab world of 260 million people has a smaller combined gross domestic product than Spain with 40 million. [...]

Given the immense richness of the area -- from oil, to natural gas and its multitude of minerals, given Middle Easterners' natural flair for business and their success at it -- there is little excuse for the socio-political retardation in the area. "We must identify the past and not repeat its mistakes," said a participant at last week's Kuwait conference.

"Here are the facts, whether we like them or not. A number of countries have no respect for human rights," said al Hammad, the political scientist. The need for change in the Arab world was echoed by his Syrian colleague, Sami al-Khaymi, who said, "There is dire need to change the Arab mind." No one will argue that point.

But still, there is room for optimism. A few countries are beginning to introduce reform, albeit at their own pace, such as Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Tunisia and Algeria, the latter of which has seen a mushrooming of independent newspapers. Others are under mounting pressure from the Bush administration to change.

The other country offering a glint of hopefulness in the region is Iran -- not an Arab country -- and which is most likely to head towards greater democratic changes within the next decade. "It is not right to represent Iran with its ruling mullahs, who are (going to be) seriously in trouble when young Iranians enter society," commented Amir Naghshineh-Pour, director of the San Diego-based Iran Alliance Public Relations.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 24, 2004 9:20 PM