'D' IS FOR DEMOCRACY:

Rice Praises Indonesia As Model of 'Tolerance' (Ellen Nakashima, March 15, 2006, Washington Post)

Condoleezza Rice, in her first visit to Indonesia as secretary of state, praised its government Tuesday for setting an example of "moderation, tolerance and inclusiveness," and for urging officials in nearby military-ruled Burma to respect human rights.

At a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, Rice defended the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies, which have aroused criticism and violent protests in many Muslim countries, including Indonesia.

"I understand that the United States has had to do things . . . that are not that popular in much of the world," she said. "We are fighting a very tough enemy, an enemy that has been felt here in Indonesia with bombings in Bali and Jakarta."

She also suggested that the United States is sometimes misunderstood, and she stressed "how much the United States respects people who are of Islamic faith." Before the news conference, Rice visited an Islamic school, where she announced an $8.5 million grant to develop a version of "Sesame Street" for Indonesia.

Thanks to the relative ease with which the outer rim of the Islamic World has liberalized/is liberalizing, we should be able to roll the process towards the middle without too much difficulty.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 15, 2006 8:31 AM