Thursday, March 3, 2011

Credit Bush


I think this writer is onto something: it turns out George Bush and the US deserve some credit for the wave of human rights demands sweeping the Arab world. Not how he'd want it, maybe; but credit nevertheless:

Some have linked the emergence of a strong human rights agenda in the Arab world with the policies of the last American president. In a way they are right: post-9/11 abuses overseen by the Bush administration were the tragedy that brought to light the urgency of claiming rights.

In the stunning popular uprisings that have been sprouting up throughout the Arab world, the desire for the realization of rights seems ubiquitous. For this, some have argued, George W. Bush deserves some credit. In fact, there is a link to be made between recent developments and Bush administration policies. However, it is not so much that we are finally seeing the fruits of the Bush era’s democracy and human rights promotion agenda, or that a liberated Iraq has now set an example for the rest of the region to follow. Rather, we are seeing the fruits of an Arab engagement with human rights which was in part spurred by the Bush Administration’s array of post-9/11 policies thwarting human rights....

“Abu Ghraib probably brought home the concept of human rights more strongly than anything else. People started debating human rights issues in talking about Abu Ghraib…What is your right to be treated like a human being in dignity?” an Arab activist told me in Amman in 2006.



It's a serious piece, and I find it worthy of some thought.

And if it's not ironic, I don't know what is.

5 comments:

  1. IRONIC??? I've got Ironic for ya..
    Rain on your Wedding Day,
    A free ride, when you've already paid,
    The Good advice, you just can't take...
    That your only the Bush tax cuts away from Poverty.
    Seriously, figure out how many more sheckles you have cause Anthony Kennedy, I mean George W. Bush stole, I mean won in 2000, account for inflation, infact I used to have a nifty "How much did the Bush Tax cuts save you?" calculator on my blog, till it conflicted with my "Ted Kennedy Glioma Countdown Clock"
    I mean even if you only made minimum wage since 2001, its still some $20,000, compound interest, dontcha know...

    Frank

    ReplyDelete
  2. What's really ironic, Frank, is a guy smart enough to get through med school (admittedly a low bar in some places) still arguing that the Bush tax cuts saved anyone any money. Given their central role in the economic meltdown, I'd rather have paid the extra taxes and not lost my savings in the crash.

    But it's at least a two step thought process, which is an insurmountable burden, evidently. Huffing your hoses can't be helping, either.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sure, Blame "W" for your investment acumen or lack of same...
    Anyway, stocks go up, stocks go down, you gotta be in it for the long run...
    Ooops sorry,
    thats why ya gotta De-Versify, infact I've got some $300 in D-Marks, Austrian Shillings, I-talian Lira, Croatian Krona, and believe it or not, even a few Shekels...

    and with my Non-authenticated Mickey Mantle autographed(or a damn good fake)baseball, and I might be able to get a tank of gas...

    Frank

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tank of gas? Frank? Let's be frank, Frank... That's really IRONIC!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I read "Rain on your Wedding Day" and scratched my head for a moment, as that's actually not... well, never mind. Ed Byrne says it better than I can.

    In Ms. Morrisette's defense this is funny however.

    ReplyDelete

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