# Bush's "Mideast democracy" speech **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-mideast-democracy-speech/211901 **Category:** Great Debates **Created:** [November 7, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-mideast-democracy-speech/211901 "2003-11-07T15:44:50Z") **Posts on this page:** 8 **Page:** 6
### Author: ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder) #### Post date: [November 13, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-mideast-democracy-speech/211901/101 "2003-11-13T03:37:04Z")
Remember how we were restoring free speech to Iraq? [http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters11-11-023936.asp?reg=MIDEAST](http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters11-11-023936.asp?reg=MIDEAST) > [@](#): > > Asked why the man had been arrested and put into the back of a Humvee vehicle on Tahrir Square, the commanding officer told Reuters at the scene: ‘‘This man has been detained for making anti-coalition statements.’’ So much for free speech. ---
### Author: ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom) #### Post date: [November 13, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-mideast-democracy-speech/211901/102 "2003-11-13T03:48:12Z")
Free speech and war go together like oil and water. Like war and happiness. War and prosperity. And so on. ---
### Author: ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus) #### Post date: [November 13, 2003, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-mideast-democracy-speech/211901/103 "2003-11-13T09:21:10Z")
Back on the falsified survey issue, and how well things are _really_ going in Iraq: [CIA has a bleak analysis of Iraq](http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/7239049.htm) > [@](#): > > A new, top-secret CIA report from Iraq warns that growing numbers of Iraqis are concluding the U.S.-led coalition can be defeated and are supporting the insurgents. > > The report paints a bleak picture of the political and security situation in Iraq and cautions that the U.S.-led drive to rebuild the country as a democracy could collapse unless corrective actions are taken immediately. > > L. Paul Bremer, leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, who arrived unexpectedly in Washington for strategy sessions yesterday, essentially endorsed the CIA’s findings, a senior administration official said. > > The report’s bleak tone and Bremer’s private endorsement differ sharply with the upbeat public assessments that President Bush, his chief aides, and even Bremer are giving as part of an aggressive publicity campaign aimed at countering rising anxieties over increasing U.S. casualties in Iraq. > > \ > > Disclosures on the report’s findings suggested senior policymakers want to make sure the assessment reaches Bush. > > Some senior policymakers have expressed frustration in efforts to provide Bush with more somber analyses of the situation in Iraq than the optimistic views presented by Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, and other hard-liners. > > \ > > An escalation of the military campaign could cause more civilian casualties and drive more Iraqis to the insurgents’ side. > > At the same time, the CIA assessment warns that none of the postwar Iraqi political institutions and leaders have shown an ability to govern the country or even preside over drafting a constitution or holding an election. ---
### Author: ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves) #### Post date: [November 13, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-mideast-democracy-speech/211901/104 "2003-11-13T14:09:21Z")
Unfortunately, if that CIA report is in all the newspapers but Rove & Rice don’t want Bush to see it, he won’t. While we’re Kippling, btw: > [@](#): > > Take up the White Man’s burden– > In patience to abide, > To veil the threat of terror > And check the show of pride; > … > The ports ye shall not enter, > The roads ye shall not tread, > Go, make them with your living > And mark them with your dead. > … > Take up the White Man’s burden, > And reap his old reward– > The blame of those ye better > The hate of those ye guard– > … > By all ye will or whisper, > By all ye leave or do, > The silent sullen peoples > Shall weigh your God and you. > … > Comes now, to search your manhood > Through all the thankless years, > Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom, > The judgment of your peers. ---
### Author: ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink) #### Post date: [November 13, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-mideast-democracy-speech/211901/105 "2003-11-13T15:16:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Unfortunately, if that CIA report is in all the newspapers but Rove & Rice don’t want Bush to see it, he won’t. Well, you’ve got to take that CIA AARDWOLF with a grain of salt anyway. Remember that this is the same organization whose deceptive and terrifying portrayal of a rogue regime oozing with weapons of mass destruction convinced a peace-loving president to go to war. Who among us is wise enough to discern the subtle shades of truth hidden within the spook’s relentless fearmongering ? 😉 ---
### Author: ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor) #### Post date: [November 13, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-mideast-democracy-speech/211901/106 "2003-11-13T16:04:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > Remember how we were restoring free speech to Iraq? > [http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters11-11-023936.asp?reg=MIDEAST](http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters11-11-023936.asp?reg=MIDEAST) > So much for free speech. \*\* Have a look at [this photo](http://sailor.teemingmillions.com/images/iraq01.htm) where a US soldier has the muzzle of his rifle on the chest of an Iraqi man detained for shouting slogans against occupation during a demonstration. I feel sorry for the both of them, equally victims of the policies of president Bush. They personally have no quarrel but have been made to fight. Americans and Iraqis like them are dying daily because of a stupid decision made in Washington. Regarding Kipling and Fuzzy-Wuzzy, I found this line amusing: > [@](#): > > We sloshed you with Martinis, an’ it wasn’t ’ardly fair; Yes, I know what a “Martini” is/was. ---
### Author: ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom) #### Post date: [November 14, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-mideast-democracy-speech/211901/107 "2003-11-14T02:30:39Z")
Lest we forget, _this_ is what the Bush Administration should have focused all of its attention on: [U.N.: Al Qaeda sanctions failing](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/11/12/alqaeda.info/index.html) > [@](#): > > He said countries must realize the best way to combat terrorism was by working together on a multilateral basis. Amen. ---
### Author: ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher) #### Post date: [November 14, 2003, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-mideast-democracy-speech/211901/108 "2003-11-14T09:25:25Z")
Does the coalition define the mission, or does the mission define the coalition? The world is diverse and you cannot possibly get every single country to agree on everything. The best you can do for anything is to get a solid coalition of like-minded nations. Which is what we have done, from Kosovo, to Afghanistan, to Iraq. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-mideast-democracy-speech/211901.md?page=5)