双语环球新闻:布什中东之行难交朋友

http://www.sina.com.cn 2008年01月22日 10:10   钱江晚报

  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.

双语环球新闻:布什中东之行难交朋友

  在美国介入阿拉伯世界的半个世纪里,在不引起国内反感的情况下,美国总统在任

  期结束前总是尽可能地亲近阿拉伯人。在这次中东之行中,乔治·布什也遵守了这一规则。不同之处在于美国没有能够整治好伊拉克,没有在以色列人和巴勒斯坦人之间建立和平,也没有使穆斯林相信,反恐战争不是不公平地针对他们的。没有其他的美国总统需要弥合那么多的损害。

  在阿拉伯联合酋长国首都阿布扎比的一次讲话被宣传为是布什这次7国之行的基调。在讲话中,他提到了大家都熟悉的主题,如伊朗统治者的邪恶,以及他相信,只有民主才能将人民从压迫和不安全中解救出来。他说:“当你不允许人民发表合法的批评言论时,你就不能建立一个现代的、自信的国家。”

  东道主国家的官员们对美国的伊朗政策敬而远之。阿拉伯国家的评论员对一个造成阿布·格莱布和关塔那摩悲剧的政府首脑能否鼓吹人权,或者布什先生对海湾国家的君主们对待民主的姿态,如举行严格控制的选举进行大肆吹捧是否意味着他更关心的是确保廉价的石油,而不是推进真正的整治改革提出了质疑。

  事实上,正是美国在提供真正的武器。恰巧在总统访问期间宣布了美国将向沙特阿拉伯出售900套制导炸弹套件,价值1.23亿美元。这是一项美国向它的这个海湾阿拉伯盟友保证的价值200亿美元的长期军售协议的一部分。然而,当以色列军方一名消息来源宣称,以色列将得到类似但智能化程度更高的武器时(它目前正在从美国无偿得到1万枚精确制导炸弹),这项军售所希望的积极效果烟消云散了。这样的评论将确保亲以色列的美国国会批准对沙特的军售,但是这势必使沙特感到恼怒。科威特“al-Rai al-Am”日报的编辑抱怨说:“这个地区需要的是有智慧的倡议,而不是智能炸弹。”

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