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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2003)
Nation & World News Bush signs aid bill for Middle East Some critics lambasted the plan, saying a clear-cut policy is necessary for U.S. aid efforts to be successful By David Jackson The Dallas Morning News (KRT) WASHINGTON — Facing political fire over the rising costs of war — in lives and dollars — President Bush argued Thursday that forging democ racy in Iraq will build freedom throughout the Arab world. "As long as the Middle East re mains a place where freedom does not flourish," Bush said, "it will re main a place of stagnation, resent ment and violence ready for export." Bush delivered a major speech two hours before signing a new $87.5 bil lion spending plan for Iraq and Afghanistan, money that critics said symbolizes a failure of planning by the Bush administration. Those critics, including some De mocratic presidential candidates, also said Bush undermined hopes for Middle East stability with his pre emptive invasion of Iraq, a war that has triggered terrorist reprisals against American troops. "We saw chaos, we lost the trust of the Iraqi people, and the enemy was emboldened," said former Gen. Wes ley Clark during a campaign speech in Orangeburg, S.C., on Thursday. Foreign policy analysts said presi dents have long sought more democ racy in the Middle East but noted that Bush did not spell out exactly how he could be more successful, even in the test case of Iraq. "He has committed himself to staying a very long time — engaged in nation building — in Iraq," said James M. Lindsay, co-author of "America Unbound: The Bush Revo lution In Foreign Policy." Rachel Bronson, director of Mid dle East Studies with the Council on Foreign Relations, called the speech "sort of windy — not much there." "What we really need from the president is a sense, concretely, of where we're going," Bronson said. During the bill-signing ceremony at the White House, Bush noted that nearly three-fourths of the budget plan is for military operations, with $20 billion earmarked for recon struction projects in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The resources we commit today will further advance the cause of free dom," Bush said, "thereby serving the cause of peace and enhancing the security of the American people." The administration also an nounced plans to send 85,000 new troops to Iraq early next year to relieve those completing one-year terms. In his earlier speech to the Nation al Endowment For Democracy, a non-profit group created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions across the world, Bush said the Mid dle East "must be a focus of Ameri can policy for decades to come." Likening the battle to a Cold War type struggle between tyranny and liberty, Bush said a free Iraq would be "a watershed event in the global democratic revolution." Failure in Iraq spells success for ter rorism across the world, Bush said, while building democracy will pres sure neighboring states whose au thoritarian practices have been toler ated too long. "Iraqi democracy will succeed, and that success will send forth the news from Damascus to Tehran that free dom can be the future of every na tion," Bush said. Some analysts cited polls taken in the Middle East reflecting disdain for the Bush administration. Arabs in the Middle East and the United States have criticized the administration for spending too much time on Iraq and not nearly enough on the conflict be tween Israel and the Palestinians. "Good speeches do not make poli cy," said James Zogby, president of the Washington-based Arab American In stitute. "They (Bush administration officials) have fired blanks too many times and are losing credibility." During his speech, Bush criticized those who argue that democracy can not take root in Islamic countries, saying the same thing was once said about Japan, Germany, and India. "Sixty years of Western nations ex cusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe," Bush said. "Because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty." Critics said the size of the new $87.5 billion budget for Iraq and Afghanistan vividly illustrates how the Bush administration misled the na tion about the costs and difficulties of forcibly removing Saddam Hussein. (c) 2003, The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. The (fertility Center OREGON ecome C|c I he Fertility Center of Oregon has J helped many couples achieve pregnancy since 1978. We are in need of Egg Donors to help infertile women. 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