On 3/22/06, Wendy Lyon <wendy.lyon at gmail.com> wrote:
> Here's a rare sensible piece from yesterday's Guardian:
>
> Less bizarre than it seems
>
> The landslide in Belarus reflects its demonised leader's refusal to
> back market fundamentalism
> Mark Almond in Minsk
> Tuesday March 21, 2006
>
> Guardian
> After the death of Slobodan Milosevic, the west did not need to look
> far to find another bogeyman. Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus was on
> hand and facing re-election.
>
> Journalists routinely report on Belarus as a landlocked Stalinist
> theme park run by a Hitler-loving tyrant who makes his opponents
> disappear. Condoleezza Rice and her chief assistant for democracy
> promotion, Dan Fried, never tire of urging Americans and their Nato
> allies to sponsor civil-society projects in Belarus to foster true
> democracy there.
>
> Our media have a split personality when it comes to these two
> guardians of democracy. On Belarus they are quoted like Old Testament
> prophets, but mention them in connection with Iraq and people recall
> that they were the only US officials with President Bush and Tony
> Blair on January 30 2003 when Bush suggested provoking an incident
> with Iraq to get the war with Saddam going.
-- Jim Devine / "There can be no real individual freedom in the presence of economic insecurity." -- Chester Bowles