Washington Post
By Peter Baker
WASHINGTON – Sitting in a prison cell halfway around the planet, an Egyptian opposition leader forced President Bush this month to confront the question of how serious he was when he vowed to devote his second term to “ending tyranny in our world.”
Ayman Nour, who dared challenge Egypt’s authoritarian leader in manipulated elections, was sentenced Christmas Eve to five years on what U.S. officials consider bogus charges. Inside the administration, a debate ensued over whether to shelve a new trade agreement with Egypt in protest. In the end, the trade talks were suspended, and an Egyptian negotiating team invited to Washington last week was told it was no longer welcome.
In the year since Bush redefined U.S. foreign policy in his second inaugural address to make the spread of democracy the nation’s primary mission, the clarion-call language has resonated in the dungeons and desolate corners of the world. But soaring rhetoric has often clashed with geopolitical reality and competing U.S. priorities.
Although the administration has enjoyed notable success in promoting liberty in some places, it has applied the speech’s principles inconsistently in others, according to analysts, activists, diplomats and officials.
Beyond its focus on Iraq, Washington has stepped up pressure on repressive regimes in countries such as Myanmar, Belarus and Zimbabwe – where the costs of a confrontation are minimal – while still gingerly dealing with China, Pakistan, Russia and others with strategic and trade significance.
In the Mideast, where the administration has centered its attention, it has promoted elections in the Palestinian territories such as today’s balloting for parliament, even as it directed money aimed at clandestinely preventing the radical Islamic group Hamas from winning. And although it has now suspended trade negotiations with Egypt, it did not publicly announce the move, nor has it cut generous U.S. aid to Cairo.
“The administration deserves credit, but it’s just a start,” said Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House, a group that promotes democracy.
In its annual survey ranking nations as free, partly free or not free, the group upgraded nine nations or territories in 2005 and downgraded four. Among those deemed freer were Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, where peaceful revolutions overthrew autocratic governments; Lebanon, where Syrian occupation troops were pressured to withdraw; and Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories, where trailblazing elections were held.
Overall, Freedom House concluded, “the past year was one of the most successful for freedom” since the survey began in 1972.
At the same time, Human Rights Watch released its annual report, saying the Bush administration undermined its credibility in promoting freedom abroad by embracing abusive interrogation tactics in the battle with terrorists.
“There’s no question that the issue of torture in particular has compromised the U.S. voice, and not only torture but a manifold list of other human rights issues,” said the group’s associate director, Carroll Bogert, the group’s associate director, said.
The broader question is the degree to which Bush’s speech marked genuine change in policy rather than so much talk. In many parts of the government, democracy promotion seems still to take a backseat to other goals.
After the government in Uzbekistan massacred hundreds of protesters in Andijon, for instance, the Pentagon resisted any tough response to protect its military base there. Ultimately, even the restrained statements by the U.S. government alienated autocratic Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who threw out the U.S. military.
In other places, the United States has done more than talk. In Kyrgyzstan, the U.S. government financed pro-democracy groups and provided generators to print an opposition newspaper before its revolution.
In Belarus, another former Soviet republic ruled by an iron-fisted leader, Bush’s words also stir hope. “We draw strength from these statements,” said Vladimir Kolas, chairman of the Council of the Belarusian Intelligentsia opposing President Alexander Lukashenko. “We understand there are limits to what the U.S. can do. But we do need strong and decisive statements … that they will not recognize falsified election results.”
The Bush administration has been willing to stay tough on Belarus and others it labeled “outposts of tyranny,” such as Myanmar, also known as Burma, and Zimbabwe. Bush lobbied Asian leaders at a November summit in South Korea to bring Myanmar before the U.N. Security Council, and as a result the council had an unprecedented discussion last month. The United States also renewed economic sanctions adopted in 2003.
Opposition activists in Myanmar said they were grateful for U.S. efforts to highlight repression in their country. But despite these measures, little has changed, and some diplomats believe the situation has deteriorated. More than 1,100 political prisoners are behind bars, according to Amnesty International, and all regional offices of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy remain shuttered.
In Zimbabwe, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Dell has been so outspoken about President Robert Mugabe’s government that he has been threatened with expulsion. David Coltart, an opposition member of parliament, said Zimbabwe has been on the Bush administration’s radar screen, even if not the president’s.
“George Bush is too preoccupied by Iraq to be personally engaged in the Zimbabwe crisis,” he said. “But Colin Powell certainly was a friend of those struggling to bring democracy. It’s too early to say whether Condoleezza Rice is focused on Zimbabwe.”
Elsewhere, the U.S. hand is not seen as readily. In East Africa, newspapers are filled with columns asking why the Bush administration ignores their undemocratic leaders. When it comes to places such as China and Russia, the Bush administration prefers private, friendly advice to ringing public denunciations. Sometimes it passes on both. Although U.S. officials have said they would like Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who took over Pakistan in a military coup, to give up his army post and govern as a civilian, Musharraf said last year that Bush has never raised the issue with him.
Then there are Iran and North Korea, the two top enemies on Bush’s list. The president appointed a special envoy on human rights in North Korea, but Abdollah Momeni of the Office for Fostering Unity, an Iranian student group, wants more constructive help. “If they only make noises about this, or if they think that through military action democracy can be achieved, they are moving on the wrong path,” said Momeni, who is appealing a five-year prison sentence. “Military action against a country would dry up the democratic blossoms.” But, he added, “More action and less talking is needed.”