WASHINGTON (AP) — Repudiating decades of U.S. policy,
President Bush said yesterday the United States and its allies have
been wrong in “excusing and accommodating” a lack of
freedom in the Middle East. He prodded Saudi Arabia and Egypt to
lead Arab nations toward democracy.

Mindful of widespread anger and mistrust in the Muslim world
toward the United States, Bush also said that as democratic
governments emerge in the Middle East, they should reflect their
own cultures and “will not and should not look like
us.”

He said it would take time for democracy to spread and the
United States would be “patient and understanding.”

Bush’s speech appeared aimed at complaints in the Arab
world that the United States has long tolerated corrupt,
undemocratic regimes in return for stability and a reliable supply
of oil. Washington began to rethink its policy after the terrorist
attacks of Sept 11, 2001, and the emergence of deep hostility in
the Mideast toward the United States. Fifteen of the Sept. 11
hijackers came from Saudi Arabia.

“Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating
the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe
— and in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the
expense of liberty,” the president said in a groundbreaking
conclusion.

“As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom
does not flourish,” he said, “it will remain a place of
stagnation, resentment and violence ready for export. And with the
spread of weapons that can bring catastrophic harm to our country
and to our friends, it would be reckless to accept the status
quo.”

Bush spoke before the National Endowment for Democracy, an
organization formed during the Reagan administration to promote
global freedom. In another step crucial to his policy in the Middle
East, Bush later signed into law an $87.5 billion package for
military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan

“With this act of Congress, no enemy or friend can doubt
that America has the resources and the will to see this war through
to victory,” Bush said.

Middle East scholars said Bush’s appeal for democracy
lacked any followup programs.

“No new programs announced, no new money for promoting
democracy — just rhetoric,” said Martin Indyk, who had
been assistant secretary of state for the Middle East in the
Clinton administration

“The rhetoric isn’t going to move the hardliners in
Iran, Yasser Arafat or the governments in Saudi Arabia and Egypt
who are now scared of the consequences of the kind of political
liberalization that the president is preaching to them,”
Indyk said.

Bush put Iraq at the center of hopes for democracy.

“The failure of Iraqi democracy would embolden terrorists
around the world, increase dangers to the American people and
extinguish the hopes of millions in the region,” he said.

While a few governments have made moves toward democracy, most
countries in the region are ruled by authoritarian regimes and
royal families. “Basically every Arab country has an
autocratic regime,” said Judith Kipper of the Council on
Foreign Relations. “Some are more benign than others but
there’s no real democracy in the Arab world.”

Bush said some skeptics assert the traditions of Islam are
incompatible with representative government.

“It should be clear to all that Islam — the faith of
one-fifth of humanity — is consistent with democratic
rule,” the president said. He said democratic progress has
been found in predominantly Muslim countries including Turkey,
Indonesia, Senegal, Albania, Niger and Sierra Leone.

There was mixed reaction to his speech in the region.

In Amman, Jordan, businessman Khalid Salim said: “I
support completely President Bush’s speech concerning
democracy in the Middle East and hope that his words will be in
effect soon.”

However, worker Samer Hussein said angrily: “With the
justification of democracy, Bush and the Americans plan to occupy
Arab and Muslim lands. We tell him, we do not want his
democracy.”

Bush said the absence of freedom in the Mideast has had terrible
consequences, including widespread poverty and denial of school and
rights for women.

Mideast leaders should ask themselves if they will be remembered
“for resisting reform or for leading it,” Bush said. In
particular, he singled out the two powerhouses: Saudi Arabia and
Egypt.

“The Saudi government is taking first steps toward reform,
including a plan for gradual introduction of elections,” Bush
said.