News Is the Arab World Hoping for a Kerry Victory in the US Election?

[Acidrain]

By Michael Freund
The Jerusalem Post | September 15, 2004

The excitement is palpable. You can almost feel it in the air. The dictators of the Arab world just can’t wait for George W. Bush to lose the US presidential election in November.

Gripped with fear as they watch Bush’s democratic experiment in Iraq take shape, the tyrants and despots of the Middle East are pinning their hopes on Democratic challenger John Kerry to prevail.

After all, the last thing they want to see is a second-term Bush determined to reform the region, a development that would threaten their grip on power and stymie their efforts to obtain more lethal types of weaponry.

And so, the rhetoric in the Arab world is heating up, pointing to a real desire to see the US president go down in defeat.

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http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093921794974&p=1006953079865

Acidrain

 

[Chi Meson]

Sounds like a level-headed objective observation, don't you think?

(Yes that was irony, real irony)

 

[devious_]

I fail to see the relevance of the title. Which ayatollahs are you speaking of?

 

[BobG]

"if the ayatollahs are banking on Kerry to win, that certainly cannot be the right way to go."

Europe would probably beg to differ with that statement.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3640754.stm

Norway: 74% Kerry, 7% Bush
Germany: 74% Kerry, 10% Bush
France: 64% Kerry, 5% Bush
Italy: 58% Kerry, 14% Bush
Spain: 45% Kerry, 7% Bush

Bush's best ally, the United Kingdom, only prefers Kerry by 47% to 16%.

Outside of Asia, Israel and Poland might be the only countries hoping for a Bush win.

 

[Acidrain]

I thought the article was interesting! So I posted it.

I would think that the Ayatollahs that he is talking about i image would be Iran? That was my understanding.

Acidrain

 

[wasteofo2]

I thought the article was interesting! So I posted it.

I would think that the Ayatollahs that he is talking about i image would be Iran? That was my understanding.

Acidrain

No Ayatollahs were actually quoted, and only like 2 newspapers and 2 guys were actually quoted.

 

[Smurf]

Sounds like a level-headed objective observation, don't you think?

(Yes that was irony, real irony)

Alanis Morissette ruined so many people's idea of irony.

 

[Gokul43201]

Alanis Morissette ruined so many people's idea of irony.

True, that word has now become all but indistinguishable from 'sarcasm'.