skepticism by reporters, even in the Arab world

This gave me a small chuckle this morning…

“In the Arab world, the impression left by Rice’s trip — which also included stops in Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates — was that she was on a mission to round up support to punish a series of U.S. enemies, such as Hamas, Iran and Syria. The campaign against Hamas, formally known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, drew particular scorn because it was seen as hypocritical to want to punish a group that had achieved power through democratic elections. The United States and the European Union have designated Hamas a terrorist organization.

The skepticism in the region was reflected in the blunt questions posed to Rice by Arab journalists.

In Saudi Arabia, a female journalist, dressed head to toe in a black abaya, demanded: “How is it possible to harmonize the U.S. position as a nation supporting freedom of expression and the right of people to practice democracy with your effort to curb the will of Hamas?”

Egyptian Television’s Mervat Mohsen also rattled off a series of tough questions. “American calls for democracy have unwittingly brought unprecedented support for the Muslim Brotherhood, but you’re not happy with the Muslim Brotherhood in power,” he said. “Is this some kind of designer’s democracy then, Dr. Rice?”" — via WaPo

I guess “democracy” is only acceptable when the outcome is the way YOU want it… we could have added reporters from Venezuela to that discussion and the outcome would have been exactly the same. I like that “designer’s democracy” comment, though… quick thinking and a not-so-subtle poke!

About the only thing that could have topped this would have been if the reporters would have been wearing t-shirts with 2288 in bold print. (US casualty number)