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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JBTFD who wrote (556907)	3/28/2004 3:48:10 PM
From: PROLIFE	Respond to of 769667

JOHN KERRY: THE ARAB HOPE? By AMIR TAHERI March 28, 2004 -- IF elected president, will John Kerry offer the Arabs a better deal? This is the question raised in the Arab media these days. Many different answers are given, but a consensus seems to be emerging that a Kerry presidency will lift what the Arab elite regards as its worst nightmare during the presidency of George W Bush. The Kerry debate was kicked off by the Saudi daily Al-Jazeera, which published a front-page photo of the Massachusetts senator with Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, the Saudi ambassador in Washington. Several other Saudi papers later ran the "friendship photo" "the history of a long and close friendship between Sen. Kerry and the Saudi kingdom." The pan-Arab daily Asharq Alawsat, for example, claimed that Kerry's recent promise to end America's dependence on Saudi oil is merely an electoral tactic. The paper also claimed that Kerry was introduced to the Saudi ambassador by Edward Kennedy, the senior Massachusetts senator, in 1990. The two "worked hard" to organize an exhibition in Boston to introduce "Saudi culture and civilization" to Americans. The Saudi media also cite "official documents" that testify to the "close friendship" Kerry ostensibly developed with Riyadh for more than a decade. Kennedy's "Arab connection" is even older. In 1976, he toured several Arab capitals - including Baghdad, where he met Saddam Hussein, then Vice-President of Iraq. "Kennedy understands the Arabs because he has visited the region and developed relations with Arab leaders," says a Saudi official. "As the senior figure of the Democratic Party, Kennedy will help put a Kerry administration on the right track with regard to relations with the Arabs." Beyond Saudi Arabia, the assumption in Arab media and political circles is that Kerry as president will abandon Bush's "dreams of change" in the Middle East and restore Washington's traditional policy of support for the status quo in the Arab world. "We are certain that a Democratic administration will be more realistic," says a senior advisor to Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. "Bush's talk of imposing democracy can only de-stabilize the region and produce catastrophe for all concerned." Arab chancelleries are doing all they can to freeze all issues pending the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. But some Arab politicians reject this "wait and see" position. "For decades, we have geared Arab politics to the rhythm of American presidential elections," says Lebanese politician Walid Jumbalat. "Each time, we deluded ourselves into believing that a change at the White House would lead to a change in our favor." Jumbalat is right. The deus ex machina of American elections has seldom helped save the Arab from a tight spot. Many Arab leaders also fail to understand the sea-change that 9/11 has produced in the average American's view of the world. What Bush has tried to do is to reflect that change - which, incidentally, goes against his original inclination to keep the United States as clear of international affairs as possible. Today, it is safe to say that no one can get elected president of the United States on an anti-war platform. The rise and rapid fall of Howard Dean, the anti-war populist, was a sure sign of that. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the most ardent of the anti-war hopefuls, has failed to rise above the 1 percent level in Democrat primaries. The Arabs should not delude themselves into believing that a Democratic administration will be able to abandon the War on Terror or ignore its root cause, which is the absence of democracy and human rights in countries where religious fascism has established itself as the key challenger to often corrupt and despotic ruling cliques. The Arabs are not alone in deluding themselves that a Democrat at the White House will let them do as they please. Kerry's claim that several foreign leaders told him they need him to beat Bush is not as fanciful as the Republicans pretend. Some "old Europe" politicians, including France's President Jacques Chirac, also hope a President Kerry will dance to their tune - not only on Iraq, but also on issues such as the Kyoto Protocol and the International Criminal Court. Dominique de Villepin, France's foreign minister, makes no secret of his belief that the Bush presidency has been an "aberration" and that a Democratic president will "lift the fog of war." What the outside world must understand is that most Americans now believe that they are threatened by enemies who can strike in the very heart of the United States. But the average American's reaction is quite different from that of the Spaniards who changed their votes because of the 3/11 terrorist attacks on Madrid. Few Americans are prepared to turn the other cheek for Osama bin Laden and societies that have helped breed, raise and finance him. Nor would they share the "old Europe" illusion that one can change the nature of a man-eater by feeding him vegetables and cuddling him. Sens. Kerry and Kennedy may be "sincere friends of the Arabs," as the Saudi media suggest. It is also quite possible that de Villepin told Kerry "you've got to beat Bush for all of us." But the problem that Arabs and some in the "old Europe" have is that they do not yet understand that, for a majority of Americans, the War on Terror is a real war - not a pose that can be altered with a change of administration. nypost.com