WP: Bush's "freedom agenda" is selective

[DeepModem Mom]

Analysis
Ideals and Realities Clash In Bush 'Freedom Agenda'
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 21, 2006; Page A20

....The timing of Bush's address on democracy to the U.N. General Assembly and the overthrow of a democratically elected government underlined the complexities and contradictions in his "freedom agenda." With the president's attention focused on the Middle East, the state of democracy elsewhere in the world does not rate as high on his priority list. In the case of Thailand, the situation is complicated by growing U.S. unease with the ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.

"The president's freedom agenda is inherently selective," said Thomas Carothers, head of the democracy project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "We care very much about democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq, but . . . Thailand's just not part of the story, so this falls off the map a bit."

Thailand is hardly the only example. Bush strongly supports Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president who took power in a military coup, and plans to meet with him at the White House twice in the next week. Bush will also host Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, at the end of next week despite the suppression of opposition parties, newspapers and human rights groups in the oil-rich Central Asian republic.

The administration has likewise embraced autocratic leaders in such disparate places as Azerbaijan and Ethiopia while generally tempering criticism of anti-democratic policies in Russia and China. Even in the Middle East, Bush has treaded lightly in nudging allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia to reform.

On the other hand, the White House ratcheted up its pressure this month on the repressive government in Burma....When the president talks about promoting democracy, as he did in New York on Tuesday, he focuses mainly on Iraq and Afghanistan. Some other countries that he once highlighted as success stories have been dropped from his speeches, most notably Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092001696.html?nav=hcmodule

[Erika]

1. W doesn't have the slightest idea what he is doing

But his donors are still raking in the $ so he's ok. How sad to have such a greedy and shallow man as the head of our government. How very sad.

[Contrary1]

2. Gee...does Burma have oil?

That's the only explanation I can come up with.
Well, I'll be damned...yes, it does!

http://www.indexmundi.com/burma/oil_production.html

How about Kyrgyzstan?

Hmmm, nope.

"Beginning of oil production on Kashagan is postponed until 2009 or even 2010 from 2008, Kazakh Energy Minister Baktykoja Izmuhambetov said..."

http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=1501

Ok, how about Ukraine?

Hmmm, another nope.

"Oil production looks set to peak in the mid-to-late 2020s, but the decline will be offset as high fuel costs accelerate the quest for other energy sources, notably natural gas, UBS said in a study published on Wednesday.
Advocates of the peak oil theory that supplies are close to their maximum levels say it is gaining credence in the investment community.

"The cry of peak oil production has been made several times and on each of these occasions the prediction was incorrect," the UBS report said.

"Exactly when it will occur is very difficult to estimate ... However, the fact that consumption is outstripping new discoveries by more than 400 percent suggests that further increases in global reserves may be nearing an end."

http://www.theoildrum.com/tag/Ukraine

Here's an interesting site that show the barrels exported per country per day. I wasn't aware that the US exported 1,048,000 per day. So we sell it, in order that we can import it? Makes perfect sense.

http://www.photius.com/rankings/economy/oil_exports_2006_1.html

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Great research -- thanks, Contrary! nt