Washington Watch Articles From 2005
EXPLOITING FEAR AND INSECURITY
A proposed advertising campaign by a group urging the US to adopt more stringent national requirements for individuals seeking driver’s licenses has become enmeshed in controversy this week.
FROM THE WHITE HOUSE: SOME CANDOR, BUT NOT ENOUGH
In the lead-up to the Iraq elections, the White House has embarked on a new public relations strategy. For months now, the President has responded to critics of the war by presenting an exaggerated rosy picture of success.
ARABS LOOKING INWARD
Arabs are looking more inward today, focusing on issues close to home and self-identifying more with their countries. And despite concerns with employment, most Arabs are quite optimistic about their future
PROTECTING OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
One of the first political lessons I learned after coming to Washington was taught to me by an African American activist who had, in his early years, worked as a strategist with Martin Luther King, Jr.
ADRIFT AND NO SUBSTANTIVE DEBATE
It is not just that the Administration’s current course isn’t working, it’s that there is no clarity as to what that course is. There are slogans: “supporting our troops,” “fighting terrorists there so we won’t have to fight them here,” “advancing democracy,” etc. They all sound clear and quite simple, but they do not provide a realizable goal let alone a strategy.
BUSH’S VANISHING COATTAILS
The Bush Administration is facing an unprecedented loss of control over the domestic debate on the Iraq war. Having taken a number of direct hits in recent weeks, the Administration is now fighting back in an effort to rebuild a support base. It may, however, be too late.
REFORM: AN ARAB AGENDA
Last week, I had an opportunity to participate in two separate conferences in Bahrain, one featuring non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from across the Arab world (in what was called the “parallel conference” to the summit), the other, a meeting of the Arab Business Council, a remarkable gathering of Arab business leaders organized in partnership with the World Economic Forum.
2005 ARAB ATTITUDES TOWARDS US: GOOD NEWS & BAD NEWS
This was one finding from a six nation poll conducted during October of 2005. The Zogby International (ZI) poll was commissioned by the Arab American Institute (AAI). The AAI/ZI poll surveyed over 3,600 Arabs in Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Jordan.
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SAUDI ARABIA UNDER ATTACK
Saudi Arabia is under attack again, with critics going to new lengths to not only portray the Kingdom as hostile to the US, but to smear any groups and individuals who have even remote connections with Saudis.
SECOND TERM SLIDE (Copy)
Second-term Administrations frequently begin strong and then encounter difficulties, either from scandals, dwindling public support and exhaustion, or a failure to deliver on an ambitious program.
MIERS: ANOTHER BAD BREAK FOR BUSH?
If the Bush Administration and the Republican Party didn’t have enough problems with Iraq and Hurricane Katrina, the past month delivered two new blows:
BUSH’S “MAJOR SPEECH”
President George W. Bush’s October 6, 2005 address before the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was billed by the White House as a major speech. And it was.
“DELAY”ED JUSTICE
Tom DeLay, the powerful Republican Majority Leaders in the US Congress, has been indicted by a Texas grand jury for violations of that state’s campaign finance laws. As a result, DeLay has been forced to resign his House leadership post.
CLINTON’S GLOBAL INITIATIVE
Bill Clinton was a great President, who appears to be on the path to becoming a great ex-President. Despite personal foibles for which he paid dearly during his eight years in office, Clinton, as President, continued to provide leadership in international peacemaking, oversee a period of extraordinary economic expansion and lead a national effort to heal the US’s racial, ethnic and religious divides.
TWO IMPORTANT SPEECHES
With his poll numbers standing at their lowest point, a “kinder and gentler” George W. Bush appeared on both the world and national stages last week.
COMPASSION DEFINES OUR ERA
Watching the outpouring of compassion being displayed for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, I am reminded of the remarkable era in which we are living. This is not the first such international response to human suffering.
KATRINA AND IRAQ VIE FOR ATTENTION
Hurricane Katrina forced President George W. Bush to do what Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, could not
SHARON IS WINNING
Despite facing serious challenges within his governing coalition, Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appears to have succeeded in implementing another phase in his plan to unilaterally impose an Israeli solution to the Question of Palestine.
NEEDED: ARAB LEADERSHIP AND VISION
The Arab world is facing critical challenges in Iraq and Palestine. Passivity will not do, nor will merely blaming others, even if they justly deserve blame for having created these crises in the first place
THE QUANDARY CALLED IRAQ
There is growing concern being voiced in the US over the quandary called Iraq. At issue is both the Bush Administration’s handling of the war and the role that Iraq plays in shaping the President’s overall vision for the Middle East.