Who you gonna call?
Gateway Pundit posts on pro-democracy protests in Azerbaijan. Pictures and a link to videos are included. As we have seen in many of the pro-democracys protests, one world leader is being called upon to help. One world leader seems to have gained the trust of these brave people. They don't ask for help from the U.N. They don't look to Europe. They look to America and it's President. Hopefully President Bush will respond to these pleas and issue a strong statement in support of Democracy in Azerbaijan. I want America to be the country that people fighting for their own democracy look to for support. It would be great if we were one nation amoung a chorus of nations demanding that Democratic reform take place in the totalitarian countries of the world, but with a crowd or all alone I know what side I want to be one. The Iraq war has been especially controversial in the past few weeks or so, with various political manueverings and loud declarations. One question I have for those who are against this war, is would the people of Azerbaijan be calling on America and it's current President if we had not gone to war in Iraq? Does that influence the equation on the correctness of the war or not?
posted by Dave Justus | 11/21/2005 12:32:00 PM
4 Comments:
Given that the Azerbaijani government has been an ally in the war on terror (the U.S. dropped sanctions against it in 2001 in return for agreeing that we could use their airspace in the war in Afghanistan) and that there are huge oil reserves in Azerbaijan which American oil companies are gaily tapping, this will be an interesting test of Bush's ostensibly pro-democracy foreign policy. It's also not so clear to me that the entreaties to Bush by the demonstrators were pro-Bush so much as calling him out on this test.
We have seen similar signs in many pro-democracy protests. One of the most striking to me was in the Ivory Coast a few years ago.
This 'test' as you called it occurred before, and while Bush could have been more forceful, he and Sec. Rice clearly called upon the Azerbaijan Government to institute democratic reform.
Bearing in mind the estimated $290 billion "windfall" for the oil companies out of Iraq, there is no need for Bush and co to make anything more than platitudinous comments to the Azerbaijan government. The deal there is already done.
But watch what happens if the Azerbaijan government were to nationalise their oil industry as Saddam did in the 80's.
[turns off cynicism circuit]
What is the 'windfall' you are speaking of?
Azerbaijan's oil industry is already nationalized.
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