Leaving his suite in the opulent Emirates Palace Hotel, constructed at a cost of more than $3 billion, President Bush took time away from falconry to address the leaders of the Middle East in the authoritarian nation of Abu Dhabi (UAE).
Speaking to this audience of autocrats President Bush said: (The Middle East has entered a) "New era founded on the equality of all people before God. This new era is being built with the understanding that power is a trust that must be exercised with the consent of the governed -- and deliver equal justice under the law."
text of speech
He praised the autocratic regime of his hosts, "I'm proud to stand in a nation where the people have an opportunity to build a better future for themselves and their families." Foreign resident workers in the country have few legal or human rights, including no right to protest working conditions. These workers have their passports seized by authorities so they are literally held in what is akin to indentured servitude. (Also see, Building Towers Cheating Workers).
Bush lectured his audience instructing them on the philosophy of democracy: "In a free and just society, every person is treated with dignity. In a free and just society, leaders are accountable to those they govern. And in a free and just society, individuals can rise as far as their talents and hard work will take them."
It is unfortunate President Bush does not believe this is the case in the United States where millions of Americans live in structural poverty and where the Administration has been silent on the business practices of predatory payday lenders and record home foreclosures brought about by subprime mortgages.
It is also evident that in our "free and just society" children are warehoused in "education-in-a-box" voucher schools, taught to a test that stresses rote memorization of disparate facts rather than critical thinking and in another surrealistic policy rewards schools based on achievement and underfunds schools with predominately minority student populations. In essence, "No Child will be left Behind" if they are white.
Bush noted further that "free and just societies require habits of self-government that contribute to the rule of law". President Bush was perhaps describing the mythical Oz for he surely was not talking about the United States during the almost eight-years he has occupied the White House.
During this time we have snubbed the Geneva Accord, sanctioned torture, eviscerated fundamental tenets of the Bill of Rights, disclosed the identity of a CIA operative and, most importantly trumped up intelligence to justify the invasion of a sovereign nation in gross violation of the principles of international law.
He expressed his conception of individual worth by the reference "human capital," this might be an apt description of the migrant workers discussed previously. I hope the American people do not regard themselves as either capital or labor but human beings on life’s journey to individual actualization.
"You cannot stand up," Bush said, "a modern and confident nation when you do not allow people to voice their legitimate criticisms. We know that democracy is the only form of government that treats individuals with the dignity and equality that is their right."
Tell that Mr. President do the so-called enemy non-combatants who have been held without bail or failure to appear before a magistrate and be informed of the charges lodged against them. Have they been shown either dignity or equality? Were the prisoners at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo?
This may also seem trite but the last time I went to protest America’s Iraq policy I was led to a "Free Speech Zone."
The question remains is Democratic policy in the region to be underpinned by realpolitik or the millenarianism of George W. Bush? It is much easier to fling around the buzzwords of democracy and hold sham elections, while alleging to build a civil society amid a deeply fractionized Iraqi people, for example. But we must also be cognizant of the fact that many a coup and junta has received the support and encouragement of Democratic presidents.
Bush concluded his remarks saying, "My friends, a future of liberty stands before you. It is your right. It is your dream. And it is your destiny."
He should be saying this at home.
Human Rights Watch Report on Indentured Servitude
Building Towers Cheating Workers