Albright attacks Bush's support of sham democracies in Arab countries

[ProSense]

Arabs should not exclude Islamist parties: Albright 28 minutes ago

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United States should not back "sham" reforms in the Arab world which continue to isolate powerful Islamist opposition, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on Monday.

"It would be a mistake to exclude Islamist parties on the assumption they are inherently undemocratic or prone to violence," she said in a statement released shortly before her appearance at a conference in the United Arab Emirates.

"The best way to marginalize violent extremists is to make room for as broad a range of non-violent perspectives as possible."

Her comments appeared to be directed at Arab countries including Egypt, where the banned Muslim Brotherhood has made stunning gains by winning 76 seats in ongoing parliamentary elections.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051128/pl_nm/rights_arabs_albright_dc

[cliss]

1. Albright was interviewed on AAR a while back.

She was commenting on what it was like when the Bush regime came into power in 2000. She said before Bush, they cultivated ties with other countries, and worked on diplomacy. It was like a deck of cards placed on a table.

Once Bush came in, however, she said "they just pushed the cards off the table.

That tells you everything you need to know about Bush.