During half a century of American engagement with the Arab world, American presidents have tended to get nicer to the Arabs towards the end of their term, when they have less to lose at home by doing so. With his Middle East tour, George Bush has stuck to that rule. The difference is that, with America's failure to sort out Iraq or make peace between Israelis and Palestinians or to persuade Muslims that the war on terror is not unfairly directed at themselves, no other president has had to control quite so much damage.
A speech in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, was touted as the keynote of his seven-country tour. In it, he touched on familiar themes, such as the wickedness of Iran's rulers and his belief that only democracy can free people from oppression and insecurity. “You cannot stand up a modern and confident nation when you do not allow people to voice their legitimate criticisms,” he said.
While officials from the host country quietly distanced themselves from America's Iran policy, Arab commentators questioned whether the head of an administration responsible for the miseries of Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo could preach human rights or whether Mr Bush's lavish praise for some Gulf monarchs' gestures towards democracy, such as holding highly restricted elections, meant that he cared more about securing cheap oil than promoting real political reform.
It was, in fact, America that was supplying the real weapons, with an announcement, coinciding with the presidential tour, that it would sell Saudi Arabia 900 guided-bomb kits worth $123m as part of a longer-term pledge to transfer some $20 billion in arms to its Arab Gulf allies. Yet the sale's hoped-for favourable impact dissipated when an Israeli military source asserted that Israel, which is getting 10,000 American precision-guided bombs free, would get a smarter version. This comment was meant to reassure America's pro-Israeli Congress about the Saudi sale, but certainly managed to annoy the Saudis. “The region needs smart initiatives, not smart bombs,” growled an editorial in Kuwait's daily al-Rai al-Am.
雙語環(huán)球新聞：布什中東之行難交朋友
在美國介入阿拉伯世界的半個(gè)世紀(jì)里，在不引起國內(nèi)反感的情況下，美國總統(tǒng)在任
期結(jié)束前總是盡可能地親近阿拉伯人。在這次中東之行中，喬治·布什也遵守了這一規(guī)則。不同之處在于美國沒有能夠整治好伊拉克，沒有在以色列人和巴勒斯坦人之間建立和平，也沒有使穆斯林相信，反恐戰(zhàn)爭不是不公平地針對他們的。沒有其他的美國總統(tǒng)需要彌合那么多的損害。
在阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長國首都阿布扎比的一次講話被宣傳為是布什這次7國之行的基調(diào)。在講話中，他提到了大家都熟悉的主題，如伊朗統(tǒng)治者的邪惡，以及他相信，只有民主才能將人民從壓迫和不安全中解救出來。他說：“當(dāng)你不允許人民發(fā)表合法的批評言論時(shí)，你就不能建立一個(gè)現(xiàn)代的、自信的國家。”
東道主國家的官員們對美國的伊朗政策敬而遠(yuǎn)之。阿拉伯國家的評論員對一個(gè)造成阿布·格萊布和關(guān)塔那摩悲劇的政府首腦能否鼓吹人權(quán)，或者布什先生對海灣國家的君主們對待民主的姿態(tài)，如舉行嚴(yán)格控制的選舉進(jìn)行大肆吹捧是否意味著他更關(guān)心的是確保廉價(jià)的石油，而不是推進(jìn)真正的整治改革提出了質(zhì)疑。
事實(shí)上，正是美國在提供真正的武器。恰巧在總統(tǒng)訪問期間宣布了美國將向沙特阿拉伯出售900套制導(dǎo)炸彈套件，價(jià)值1.23億美元。這是一項(xiàng)美國向它的這個(gè)海灣阿拉伯盟友保證的價(jià)值200億美元的長期軍售協(xié)議的一部分。然而，當(dāng)以色列軍方一名消息來源宣稱，以色列將得到類似但智能化程度更高的武器時(shí)(它目前正在從美國無償?shù)玫?萬枚精確制導(dǎo)炸彈)，這項(xiàng)軍售所希望的積極效果煙消云散了。這樣的評論將確保親以色列的美國國會(huì)批準(zhǔn)對沙特的軍售，但是這勢必使沙特感到惱怒?？仆亍癮l-Rai al-Am”日報(bào)的編輯抱怨說：“這個(gè)地區(qū)需要的是有智慧的倡議，而不是智能炸彈?！?BR>
A speech in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, was touted as the keynote of his seven-country tour. In it, he touched on familiar themes, such as the wickedness of Iran's rulers and his belief that only democracy can free people from oppression and insecurity. “You cannot stand up a modern and confident nation when you do not allow people to voice their legitimate criticisms,” he said.
While officials from the host country quietly distanced themselves from America's Iran policy, Arab commentators questioned whether the head of an administration responsible for the miseries of Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo could preach human rights or whether Mr Bush's lavish praise for some Gulf monarchs' gestures towards democracy, such as holding highly restricted elections, meant that he cared more about securing cheap oil than promoting real political reform.
It was, in fact, America that was supplying the real weapons, with an announcement, coinciding with the presidential tour, that it would sell Saudi Arabia 900 guided-bomb kits worth $123m as part of a longer-term pledge to transfer some $20 billion in arms to its Arab Gulf allies. Yet the sale's hoped-for favourable impact dissipated when an Israeli military source asserted that Israel, which is getting 10,000 American precision-guided bombs free, would get a smarter version. This comment was meant to reassure America's pro-Israeli Congress about the Saudi sale, but certainly managed to annoy the Saudis. “The region needs smart initiatives, not smart bombs,” growled an editorial in Kuwait's daily al-Rai al-Am.
雙語環(huán)球新聞：布什中東之行難交朋友
在美國介入阿拉伯世界的半個(gè)世紀(jì)里，在不引起國內(nèi)反感的情況下，美國總統(tǒng)在任
期結(jié)束前總是盡可能地親近阿拉伯人。在這次中東之行中，喬治·布什也遵守了這一規(guī)則。不同之處在于美國沒有能夠整治好伊拉克，沒有在以色列人和巴勒斯坦人之間建立和平，也沒有使穆斯林相信，反恐戰(zhàn)爭不是不公平地針對他們的。沒有其他的美國總統(tǒng)需要彌合那么多的損害。
在阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長國首都阿布扎比的一次講話被宣傳為是布什這次7國之行的基調(diào)。在講話中，他提到了大家都熟悉的主題，如伊朗統(tǒng)治者的邪惡，以及他相信，只有民主才能將人民從壓迫和不安全中解救出來。他說：“當(dāng)你不允許人民發(fā)表合法的批評言論時(shí)，你就不能建立一個(gè)現(xiàn)代的、自信的國家。”
東道主國家的官員們對美國的伊朗政策敬而遠(yuǎn)之。阿拉伯國家的評論員對一個(gè)造成阿布·格萊布和關(guān)塔那摩悲劇的政府首腦能否鼓吹人權(quán)，或者布什先生對海灣國家的君主們對待民主的姿態(tài)，如舉行嚴(yán)格控制的選舉進(jìn)行大肆吹捧是否意味著他更關(guān)心的是確保廉價(jià)的石油，而不是推進(jìn)真正的整治改革提出了質(zhì)疑。
事實(shí)上，正是美國在提供真正的武器。恰巧在總統(tǒng)訪問期間宣布了美國將向沙特阿拉伯出售900套制導(dǎo)炸彈套件，價(jià)值1.23億美元。這是一項(xiàng)美國向它的這個(gè)海灣阿拉伯盟友保證的價(jià)值200億美元的長期軍售協(xié)議的一部分。然而，當(dāng)以色列軍方一名消息來源宣稱，以色列將得到類似但智能化程度更高的武器時(shí)(它目前正在從美國無償?shù)玫?萬枚精確制導(dǎo)炸彈)，這項(xiàng)軍售所希望的積極效果煙消云散了。這樣的評論將確保親以色列的美國國會(huì)批準(zhǔn)對沙特的軍售，但是這勢必使沙特感到惱怒?？仆亍癮l-Rai al-Am”日報(bào)的編輯抱怨說：“這個(gè)地區(qū)需要的是有智慧的倡議，而不是智能炸彈?！?BR>