Indeed, outside of Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush was more of a “realist” about democracy promotion than is commonly believed. His vaunted Middle East democracy project peaked in 2005, when Iraq held free elections, Egyptian president-for-life Hosni Mubarak agreed to do the same, Syria was forced to end its occupation of Lebanon, and reformers across the region appeared to be gaining momentum. The London Independent published a headline asking: “Was Bush right after all?” In June 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told an audience at the American University in Cairo: “For 60 years, my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region here in the Middle East — and we achieved neither. Now, we are taking a different course. We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people.”
But several months later, Egypt’s elections were disrupted by government thuggery, and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood (an outlawed group) picked up dozens of parliamentary seats. The Mubarak regime soon initiated a new surge of repression. Meanwhile, Hamas won an election in the Palestinian territories, Hezbollah gained strength in Lebanon, and Sunni insurgents bombed the Shiite Golden Dome mosque in Samarra, Iraq, triggering horrific violence. The 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict dealt a further blow to Bush’s freedom agenda. By the time Secretary Rice visited Egypt in January 2007, the administration was much more concerned about stabilizing Iraq and countering Iran than it was about urging the Egyptian government to democratize. As the New York Times reported: “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.”
