Condi Telling It Like It Is
CAIRO, June 20 -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Monday criticized autocratic U.S. allies and praised democratic reformers throughout the Middle East in a policy speech laying out the principles and goals of the Bush administration's democracy campaign.
Speaking to an invitation-only audience at the American University in Cairo, Rice mixed tough rhetoric with assurances that the United States is not planning to impose democracy. The United States, she said, "has no cause for false pride and we have every reason for humility."
Calling the ideal of democracy "universal," she noted that "for 60 years, my county, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region . . . and we achieved neither. Now, we are taking a different course. We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people."
Across the Middle East, "the fear of free of choices can no longer justify the denial of liberty. It is time to abandon the excuses that are made to avoid the hard work of democracy," Rice declared.
That is exactly the sort of thing that needs to be said.
