Douglas Carswell's Blog

George Bush: not quite so stupid after all?

It has long been fashionable to sneer at the supposed stupidity of the former US President, George W. Bush. 

According to sophisticated opinion, Bush had it all wrong. Completely, utterly and moronically wrong. 

Nowhere was this more so that when he was espousing his idea that the Middle East can – and should – adopt democracy. I seem to recall endless “experts” and retired diplomats scoffing at the notion that people in the Arab world might want to live the same way that you and I do.  Such a view was "simplistic", those who had made careers studying the region's complexities, would inform us. 

Bush critics are fond of quoting supposed “Bushisms”.  So let’s remind ourselves what he told the UN on September 21^st, 2004:

“For too long, many nations, including my own, tolerated, even excused, oppression in the Middle East in the name of stability. Oppression became common, but stability never arrived. We must take a different approach. We must help the reformers of the Middle East as they work for freedom, and strive to build a community of peaceful, democratic nations.”

“The desire for freedom resides in every human heart. And that desire cannot be contained forever by prison walls, or martial laws, or secret police. Over time, and across the Earth, freedom will find a way.”

Watching the TV scenes from Cairo last night, it seems Dubbya was brilliantly and perceptively right.  And the sophisticates, who thought they knew better, wrong.  

Don’t expect many BBC commentators to point it out.

UPDATE:  Surprisingly, one or two comments posted below seem patronisingly dismissive of the idea that Egyptians could ever have democracy.  I seem to recall that similar things were once said of South Americans and Russians.  Not that long ago, people living on the northern side of the Mediterranean struggled to embrace democracy.  Perhaps today we are seeing those on the far side doing so to.    

If that happens, maybe we should recognise that the desire for democracy is actually universal, not distinctly Western?  Strange to think that in a funny sort of way those neo-cons turned out to be far more internationalist than many of their critics....

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