Lost credentials
Before preaching democracy around the world the US would do well to put its own house in order, writes Nader Fergany*
In the USA, self-declared bastion of freedom and self-appointed guardian of democracy throughout the world, civil liberties have been steadily eroded because of the way the present American administration chose to respond to the events of 11 September 2001.
This is not my assessment. In a recent (2002) report entitled "A Year of Loss", the (American) Lawyers Committee For Human Rights concluded, "Over the last year the US government has taken a series of actions that have gradually eroded basic human rights protections in the United States, fundamental guarantees that have been central to the US constitutional system for more than 200 years... The composite picture outlined by this report shows that too often the US government's mode of operations since 11 September has been at odds with core American and international human rights principles... Some of the cherished principles on which the country is founded have been eroded or disregarded."
To add insult to injury, an American president without a popular mandate, indeed one whose very election has been called into question, is ruling almost by decree -- not only over the US but the entire world. It is as if the American system of governance is inching towards the mode existing in repressive Third World dictatorships, but with a singular difference, global reach. The new American doctrine, then, might aptly be called 'domination without representation'.
The erosion of civil liberties in the US is clear in the administration's adoption of practices that are the hallmarks of oppressive regimes -- actions like ethnic profiling and administrative detention. The US administration's contempt for due process has even been extended to committing a "material breach" of international law and the International Bill of Human Rights through its pursuit of regime change by military invasion, thus abrogating the people's fundamental right to self-determination. It did this in Afghanistan, and Iraq, by all appearances, is next in line. Other Arab countries, definitely Syria and Lebanon, might soon be added to the "bull's eye" -- Israel is definitely militating in this direction. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan are candidates for perhaps a gentler form of reform if they prove cooperative.
The American self-appointed "master of the world" is threatening to wage war on the Arab world to force "reform" according to his vision. This, it is now becoming clear, is nothing other than total American domination of the world and unbridled hegemony for Israel over Arab countries. At least that's the vision prescribed by the notorious "Project for the New American Century" (PNAC), conceived to avenge the American defeat in Vietnam.
The principals of the PNAC have been none other than Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Perle -- the core of the neo-conservative elite that is effectively the brain of the present American administration. No wonder, then, that the Bush administration has committed so many blunders and abetted Israel in its war crimes in the Arab world.
With the recent statement by the American secretary of state that the invasion of Iraq will enable the US to rearrange the region to best serve American interests, the cat cannot be put back into the bag.
With respect to Iraq, the real purpose is twofold. First, to directly control Iraq's vast oil resources, and perhaps as important, its water resources. The second goal is to dismantle Iraq's technological and military capabilities, which the Iraqi regime has, in spite of its many failings, managed to muster in the face of the huge arsenal of weapons of mass destruction owned by Israel. That arsenal does not seem to bother the guardian of international peace one bit, even though it's controlled by politicians who have proven time and time again that they are willing to use excessive military force against innocent civilians.
US concern for weapons of mass destruction and democracy in Iraq has been, it is now clear, nothing but window dressing. It's American greed, pure and simple, and its appetite for hegemony and ensuring unconditional superiority for Israel in the region that are behind the Bush administration's policy.
Europe is a regrettable case because it has considerable potential for forming a strong partnership with the Arabs which it opted to squander. The continent seems to have internalised a self-image of weakness and abdicated to the US responsibility in world affairs, in general, and in the Middle East, in particular. This is most evident in the US's so-called war on terrorism. Because of this choice, many European countries failed to protect civil liberties in their own societies, such that the erosion of civil liberties initiated in the US by the Bush administration is occurring throughout the entire Western world -- ethnic profiling and administrative detention not excepted. The UK, under the Blair government, has, of course, been the worst offender. In addition to its own destructive role, the Blair government has managed to divide Europe, thus deepening its weakness.
As a case in point, the position of official Europe, vis-à-vis a looming war in the Arab region in the face of overwhelming European popular opposition, is gravely disappointing, indeed shameful. The European Parliament, and the governments of France and Germany, though, are excepted from this observation owing to their noble stands on the expected war.
In both the UK and Spain, opinion polls reveal that four out of five citizens are against an American-led war on Iraq. In a recent meeting of the upper house of the Spanish parliament, the prime minister was alone in defending a likely American war against Iraq, while a huge anti-war demonstration surrounded the parliament building. Nevertheless, the Spanish government officially joined the UK as a staunch supporter of American policy in the region.
With elected political leaders in the UK, Spain and Italy acting in this affair in flagrant opposition to popular opinion in their countries, one is justified in wondering about the content of European democracy.
In short, Western democracy is being steadily eroded to an extent that the West has, in my opinion, lost its credentials to preach democracy to the rest of the world.
* The writer is the director of Almishkat Centre for Research, and the lead author of the Arab Human Development Report.
