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Amerigo Vespucci

(30,885 posts)
Fri Jul 27, 2012, 12:09 PM Jul 2012

Mitt Romney: Arab Spring Could've Been Avoided By Bush's 'Freedom Agenda'

Mitt Romney: Arab Spring Could've Been Avoided By Bush's 'Freedom Agenda'



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/27/mitt-romney-arab-spring_n_1710038.html

In an interview with the right-wing Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayom, Mitt Romney said that the Arab Spring might never have happened had Bush's "freedom agenda" not been prematurely halted by President Barack Obama.

"President (George W.) Bush urged (deposed Egyptian President) Hosni Mubarak to move toward a more democratic posture, but President Obama abandoned the freedom agenda and we are seeing today a whirlwind of tumult in the Middle East in part because these nations did not embrace the reforms that could have changed the course of their history, in a more peaceful manner," Romney said.

Romney argued that with the rise of democratically elected Islamist governments in some of the countries undergoing revolutions -- Egypt and Tunisia in particular -- the Arab Spring has turned out to be less of a boon for Western interests than it initially appeared.

"Clearly we're disappointed in seeing Tunisia and Morocco elect Islamist governments. We're very concerned in seeing the new leader in Egypt as an Islamist leader. It is our hope to move these nations toward a more modern view of the world and to not present a threat to their neighbors and to the other nations of the world," he said.
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Mitt Romney: Arab Spring Could've Been Avoided By Bush's 'Freedom Agenda' (Original Post) Amerigo Vespucci Jul 2012 OP
Willard is a neo-con parrot malaise Jul 2012 #1
Translation: Popular revolutions mean we don't get to install US puppets, NYC Liberal Jul 2012 #2
Ding! nobodyspecial Jul 2012 #10
Mitt's word salad sounds more logical & authoritative than $arah's catbyte Jul 2012 #3
Aren't "free people" supposed to be "free" to make their own decisions Proud Liberal Dem Jul 2012 #4
So in Mitt's view the Arab Spring was a bad thing and he loves kissing sinkingfeeling Jul 2012 #5
He likes Democracy atreides1 Jul 2012 #6
Islam - The New Communist Threat dballance Jul 2012 #7
weren't they saying the opposite at first? renegade000 Jul 2012 #8
I remember that Proud Liberal Dem Jul 2012 #11
Romney embraces more Bush policies The Second Stone Jul 2012 #9
Twit shows a profound willful ignorance of the underlying economic causes. Fozzledick Jul 2012 #12

NYC Liberal

(20,132 posts)
2. Translation: Popular revolutions mean we don't get to install US puppets,
Fri Jul 27, 2012, 12:12 PM
Jul 2012

which means less money for war profiteers.

catbyte

(34,174 posts)
3. Mitt's word salad sounds more logical & authoritative than $arah's
Fri Jul 27, 2012, 12:13 PM
Jul 2012

but it's still just word salad.



Diane
Anishinaabe in MI & mom to Taz, Nigel, and new baby brother Sammy, members of Dogs Against Romney, Cat Division
"Dogs Aren’t Luggage--HISS!”

Proud Liberal Dem

(24,355 posts)
4. Aren't "free people" supposed to be "free" to make their own decisions
Fri Jul 27, 2012, 12:20 PM
Jul 2012

and if they want to elect Islamist governments (assuming the elections are judged to be legit), aren't they supposedly "free" to do so?

Romney and the neocons (I guess) are fine with "freedom" as long as the outcomes are what THEY want, not necessarily what the people in these new "free" countries want?

Anyway, like Donald Rumsfeld said (re: Iraq looting): "Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things." (not entirely applicable but he has a point about freedom being untidy and not always turning out like we'd like it to, which is, course, o.k.)

atreides1

(16,046 posts)
6. He likes Democracy
Fri Jul 27, 2012, 12:21 PM
Jul 2012

As long as it's the bastardized form that the US has been dumping on other countries for decades...an elected dictator or tyrant and full and complete access to the natural resources of that country without consulting the people...typical!!!

 

dballance

(5,756 posts)
7. Islam - The New Communist Threat
Fri Jul 27, 2012, 12:35 PM
Jul 2012

Didn't we already try dragging countries out of a particular ideology we don't approve of in the '50s and '60s with disastrous results? Seems like most of our social engineering backfired. Hence the Bin Laden and the Taliban that we once supported and funded because they were the enemy of our enemy until that enemy was eliminated. Then we became their enemy.

We're just never going to learn that we don't have to right to dictate to countries on the other side of the world, and in Central and South America too, what form of government they should have. As long as those countries have natural resources or markets we want or want to control the USA is going to be the asshole bully of the world.

So be afraid US citizens. It's not the USA who's invading other countries for their resources that is a problem. No, it's those evil Islamists who want to invade the USA and impose Sharia law on us that's scary and dangerous.

renegade000

(2,301 posts)
8. weren't they saying the opposite at first?
Fri Jul 27, 2012, 12:39 PM
Jul 2012

all the neocons were trying to claim that the Arab Spring was evidence that Bush's invasion of Iraq had worked as planned

 

The Second Stone

(2,900 posts)
9. Romney embraces more Bush policies
Fri Jul 27, 2012, 01:00 PM
Jul 2012

is the take away here. His handlers are all former Bushistas trying to justify their war crimes and the idiot Romney is repeating what they tell him like it makes sense.

The real take away here is that Romney would delegate policy making to these same morons.

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