NYT: Rice Speaks Softly in Egypt, Avoiding Democracy Push

[kskiska]

CAIRO, Jan. 15 — In the days before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with officials in Egypt, the news media here were filled with stories detailing charges of corruption, cronyism, torture and political repression.

Cellphone videos posted on the Internet showed the police sodomizing a bus driver with a broomstick. Another showed the police hanging a woman by her knees and wrists from a pole for questioning. A company partly owned by a member of the governing party distributed tens of thousands of bags of contaminated blood to hospitals around the country. And just 24 hours before Ms. Rice arrived, the authorities arrested a television reporter on charges of harming national interests by making a film about police torture. The reporter was released, but the authorities kept the tapes.

Ms. Rice, who once lectured Egyptians on the need to respect the rule of law, did not address those domestic concerns. Instead, with Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit by her side, she talked about her appreciation for Egypt’s support in the region.

It was clear that the United States — facing chaos in Iraq, rising Iranian influence and the destabilizing Israeli-Palestinian conflict — had decided that stability, not democracy, was its priority, Egyptian political commentators, political aides and human rights advocates said.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/world/middleeast/16egypt.html?hp&ex=1168923600&en=79145df8728cd4f7&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Vile Barren Slut Rice Slithers into Egypt.

Who gives a flying fuck?

I've heard Cairo is great for shoe shopping.

[jaxx]

2. Must be great for ass kissing too.

[rodeodance]

3. She makes us all into hypocrits!

[RedEarth]

4. KR This is a big change for the bush admin... I guess they don't like

what democracy has brought to the middle east.

[Supersedeas]

5. Democracy is only a topic when as a pretext for exploitation of oil rights

[Doctor_J]

6. WTF is with all of the Condi articles the last week?

Did people start wondering out loud why SECSTAT is completely out of view despite the fact that the country's biggest foreing policy debacle in history is happening? Or wsa her appearance at the hearing such a disaster that the MSM have to prop her up? I don't see how photos of her shopping and puff pieces will quell the tide of disgust at her non-performance of her job.