HONOLULU -- Last week U.S. President George W. Bush laid out his vision for the Middle East. For the most part, the text read like any other: It was a stump speech designed to drum up support for "regime change" in Iraq.
But closer study of the speech shows not only the distance that Bush has traveled since winning the presidency but also the scope of the changes the administration envisions for the volatile region. It is a breathtaking design, anticipating nothing less than the transformation and modernization of the Middle East. And therein lies extraordinary danger.
Speaking to the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank that has provided key personnel in the administration, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Bush declared: "It is presumptuous and insulting to suggest that a whole region of the world -- or the one-fifth of humanity that is Muslim -- is somehow untouched by the most basic aspirations of life. . . . A new regime in Iraq would serve as a dramatic and inspiring example of freedom for other nations in the region."
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.