NOTE: Here's an update to the posting I did earlier on Bush's cynical use of human rights dissidents when it suits his purposes. Bush and Australia are giving the cold shoulder to a high-ranking Chinese diplomat who wants to defect. Chen Yonglin says he's become disillusioned about China and has useful info; maybe he's still reeling from the time Chen and his wife were separated and sent for "reeducation." Everyone can agree Bush is being a putz on this one because China is a trading partner. Per the NYT:
For the left:
Mr. Chen's credentials have not been challenged, and few doubt that he would be punished if he returned to China. He held the title of a political first secretary and says his principal duties were to spy on Falun Gong and pro-democracy activists. By the time he was posted to Sydney in 2001, he said he had lost hope that China's government might change. His job here was to monitor the activities of dissidents, and almost from the beginning, it weighed on his conscience. "It's dirty work," he said.For the right:
[Chen and his wife] had been student activists in the late 1980's, he at a university in Beijing, she while studying law in Shanghai. They were not married at the time. After the Tiananmen Square demonstrations were put down in 1989, they were sent separately for "re-education," they said.
[His wife] said she was assigned to work in a family planning program in a rural area. One woman she tended to was eight months pregnant with her second child when forced into a hospital for an abortion, she said. The woman escaped, was caught, and an operation performed. The baby boy, born alive, was then killed by the doctors, she said.
When will Bush learn to place American values ahead of cynicism and the coddling of totalitarian governments like China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan (which BOILS ALIVE dissidents) and the rest of his "allies"?
THE ORIGINAL POST:
Bush has made a concerted effort to meet with dissidents from overseas...at least when it serves his political purposes. He's met people from North Korea and even Venezuela -- which shows a lot of gall, since Bush gave the thumbs-up to a military coup in that country because he didn't cotton to its democratically elected leader.
It's all rather puzzling, since Bush has made it perfectly clear he's willing to ignore international law and our own Constitution when it's convenient. And Bush has been a teensy bit conflicted about which dissidents to talk to. He can't bring himself to meet with dissidents from Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. And a major opposition figure from Uzbekistan (Mohammed Salih) is coming to the US from June 27 through June 30 and Bush is AGONIZING over what to do.
Gosh, should he meet with the guy? And what to do about Uzbekistan gunning down hundreds of its own people? Should the culture of life president actually encourage a culture of life? Does the US condemn or support the shooting of unarmed citizens caling for more freedom and democracy? Boy, these moral dilemmas are SO tricky.
Hey Mr. President, meet with human rights dissidents from any and every country in the world or admit that it's all a cynical political ploy and you only support them when you think it might be useful.
If you think Bush should meet with Mohammed Salih of Uzbekistan's Democratic Erk Party, let him know by calling 202-456-1111 (to leave a comment) or email president@whitehouse.gov.
