While I agree that we all have a duty to highlight and expose the issue, I would suggest that it is high time for Arabs themselves to do more to engender press and personal freedoms in their own countries. I do not mean to sound harsh, I do write regularly on behalf of editors and journalists who end up in jail around the world but at the end of the day reform needs to be a local grass roots movement from within.

The paucity of press freedom and the autocratic nature of Arab governements existed before 9-11 and before George Bush. It existed before America. Yes, we rely on Arab governments to assist us in the war against radical Islam... are you suggesting that we should not?

How relevant is the accusation that any outside power (even the USA) buttresses an authoritarian government? The US Government has been actively opposing the Castro regime in Cuba for 40+ years, with little impact. Does US opposition to Chavez in Venezuela make much difference to him? Would US opposition to Morrocco's internal policies really matter, short of invasion, heavy international sanctions, or other more direct action?

My point here is: Don't we all place too much stock in the influence and impact of any nation on the conduct of another nation's government? Should we not, first and foremost, direct our criticism (or compliments) to that nation's own leadership?

I think Jamai was trying to tell his American readers that their government is wasting their tax money to help "undemocratic" regimes. I agree however that neither America nor any other country can bring democracy to the region, only local people can.

I agree with most of the previous comments. The world expects too much of the U.S. and needs to learn to deal with domestic problems without expecting U.S. involvement. When the U.S. acts it often faces criticisms of involving itself in domestic affairs, and when it fails to act people say that it is being hypocritical for not doing so. Of course the U.S. has to work with some difficult regimes in the Muslim world, but at the moment, that is all there is to work with.

Obviously, the U.S. should register protest with those nations that violate basic human rights and press freedom, but it has generally done so. Without the harsher actions that have not served the U.S. well in the past, however, little is likely to be accomplished until Muslims themselves do more to fight for their own rights.

lexhamfox,

This is an imperialist war and for some it is also some kind of crusade to teach Muslims a "good lesson".

Your war has killed 100 times more innocent people than 9-11 in Iraq alone (a country that had nothing to do with 9-11), and God knows how many people were killed in Afghanistan...not to mention the countless number of people who were tortured and abused by your "well-trained professional armed forces".

Since I am Moroccan, it is only recently that I realized that despite the fact that our government is autocratic, it is actually not as brutal or criminal as the US government.

It is one thing for the King and its entourage to try to silence the media for being too critical of their actions, and another to invade entire countries, bomb the hell out of them, kill hundred thousands of its people and attempt to install a friendly government in them (under the disguise of "democracy").

The King like the US government just want to protect what they call their "vital interests" even if these interests happen to be other people resources.

Mr. Aboubakr,

Like other countries who challenge the US government hegemony over many parts of the world, some media have challenged the King's government hegemony over the territory it is able to control: Morocco.

The King's government does offer good rewards for people who "cooperate" with them and who don't challenge them. Once they become part of the King's club, they will be able to disagree with them without any fear (the Monarchy does engage in internal self-criticism). For the rest of the Moroccans who are not part of the club, well tough luck. They are not going die, they will survive.....and so will many nations who quietly submit to the US government policies.

Relatively speaking, the King is treating you well Mr. Aboubakr. In the eyes of the Monarchy, the media is ultimately trying to take way its vital interests.

I am not exaggerating here. The Monarchy does calculate its risks and knows where the red lines are. Unlike the US government which is capable of "neutralizing" entire countries (Vietnam, Iraq, etc) while maintaining its hegemony, the Monarchy does not have that "luxury". Too much "control" can lead to some kind of revolt which can actually overthrow it.

The Vietnamese revolted as much they could but the US war machine just kept on killing them (about 2 million). Iraqis are more or else facing the same problem with some adjustments that had to be made for our modern times (can't naplam villages anymore without being weaken internally for being too brutal).

Karim

Two things:
1. You talk attack the "American imperialist" principles, when Morocco is being ruled by a monarchy! Monarchism is the height of imperialism!

2. Being the cynic that I am, I am willing to bet all my life savings that if the Moroccon king and Morocco as a nation got to be as powerful as US is today on the world stage, then it would also resort to measures that effectively "neutralize" entire nations. Look at history -- it is filled with wars and invasions, which went unchecked because there was no concept of a "superpower".

Gili,

I think you misunderstood me. I totally agree with you on 2.

I am not trying to say that US officials who waged all these wars against foreign nations are more evil than Moroccan officials who run the country like it is their own property.

Karim,

I don't like the invasion of Iraq but it would be hard to call it imperialist since the current regime is locally mandated and includes many Anti-Western elements. Thus far the US has been injecting money into Iraq rather than stripping the country of it's resources. It was Iraqis looting rather than US soldiers after the fall. As far as being anti muslim I think an argument can be made that Iraq's government is more 'Islamic' now than under Saddam. Most of the casualties in Iraq have not been caused by the coalition... that is a straight and rather sad fact. Kurds who were stateless and Shi'ites who were repressed are now included in the governement and enfranchised... Hardly the model of a Crusade against Muslims.. in fact Christians in Iraq have lost out. As I said... I'm not happy about the invasion of Iraq but find your description of the US action there a little far fetched. I am curious to know what your views are of Western Sahara and the ongoing war there? When did they last have elections? Do you think insurgents there are treated fairly by the Moroccan government?

Aboubakr writes five paragraphs critical of Moroccan regime and then one final paragraph starting rather mildly: "Yet as far as international pressure is concerned..." touching on the issue of international, particularly western/U.S. hypocrisy and people are raging "why are WE (U.S.) always blamed and expected to solve everybody's problems?" That wasn't Aboubakr's point but I guess since he was writing to a U.S. paper it felt very appropriate to mention this part of the problem. If you'd care to read foreign press it is full of tough criticism of their own (and other non-U.S.) governments. U.S. are only interested in news that concerns themselves (judging by the coverage) and so nothing else reaches you and then you get this feeling that everybody's always just talking about you and blaming you. Don't be so thin-skinned! It stifles real debate.

Jenni and like-minded people,

For what Aboukabkr's point was, I think he should himself say that, especially since he also has access to these pages like others. But the fact that he CONCLUDES with that last paragraph gives me the impression that that was in fact the point of all the preceding five paragraphs.

Mr. Aboubakr,

While I see the merit in "exposing [Western] hypocricies," I believe it is by no means "the only way" or even a sufficient way of tilting the balance in favour of democratic forces.

We should note that fighting Islamic-fundamentalist terrorism is itself an important step in promoting democracy in the Arab and middle-eastern countries. The terrorists, whether in power (as in Iran) or on the loose (as in, say, Saudi Arabia), are one of the most important roadblocks in the social fabric of our countries to democracy. So, as they lose their actual and supposed power, the chances of victory for democratic forces get better.

Admittedly, this is a delicate matter and Western and especially American policies have not been without serious mistakes. However, as a critical operation for the protection of ordinary people's lives and also in the global effort to promote democracy, some compromises and deals with less-than-prefect players are necessary. What must be added to such deals is transparency in their terms and the overarching principle of promoting democracy with which they must be in line.

The last point is very important and should not be taken just as a rhetorical add-on to political speeches. There must be concrete items of any such deal that implement this program. For instance, when signing a deal with, say, the authoritarian government of Pakistan whose cooperation has been vital in combating the Taliban and Islamic extremists, the West and especially the US must put in concrete demands for the protection of people's lives and freedoms, changes to school curricula in order to educate the population on the principles of freedom and democracy, reforming the courts and rolling back the inhumane practices of the Sharia law, etc.

Simply put, fighting terror does not only happen in the battlefields and skirmishes. More importantly, it happens in classrooms and courts and other parts and layers of the society. It is the resolved intention of a partnership of the democratic forces of our societies and the free world (their governments, civil society, etc.) to open up our societies and to create the necessary institutions of democracy that is the only way of tilting the balance in favour of both parties.

By the way Jenni, have you seen the title of this piece by Mr. Aboubakr?

It's clear to me that the Bush Administration stated shortly after September 11, that they might have to consort with "unsavory types." I'd guess guys like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc., LIKE that idea. None served in Vietnam, like several million of us of the same age group. We each of us, who were combat soldiers, HAD the chance, and sometimes took the opportunity, to KISS the sweet lips of evil.
One passes across that line from good to less good pretty inocuously. And then the darkness approaches. So, these boys, who were in pursuit of power during the Vietnam War, not actual combat experience, missed that chance at war. I'd contend they all regret their decisions.
So, with September 11 hitting Americans as the new Pearl Harbor, these guys, now in power, vow to win at all costs. They are, by God, going to do whatever we have to do to win. And they told us, that might involve hanging out with torturers, and nasty double and triple agents, and killers, and assassins, and people who make double dealing an art.
It takes a "man" to do what needs to be done.
Heinrich Himmler admonished his SS Death's Head boys to remain firm and tough as they slaughtered 6 million Jews, and several million others. And so, by gosh, this Administration just proudly walked away from a bunch of tough talking, gutless Republican leaders, who all caved on torture and coming close to abridging the Geneva Conventions.
Turning rendition captives over to Arab or Muslim regimes that practice torture is an opportunity, by Gosh.
And let's face the facts:
Bush, a little more than a year ago, was touting the "Cedar Revolution" in Lebanon as another victory for Democracy. Three months ago, he cared less about what happened to Lebanon. Oh, yeah, sure, blow up the Shi'a neighborhoods, protected by Hizbullah. And allow Israel to also blow up infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Who cares?
Bush, the dimwit, was all for Hamas' participation in the Palestinian elections ... until the Israelis began to caution that that wasn't a wise choice. By then, though, the horses had been left to run. And, when Hamas won in Palestine, oops, but now what?
How's this for hypocrisy? Tell the Palestinian people to have a free election, and vote freely for a winner, and then, when the winner isn't who Bush and Israel wanted, cut off funding for the Palestinian Authority. Squeeze and choke the Palestinian people, and when that wasn't enough, blow up their infrastructure.
What a great model of accepting the results of a free election.
Same for Lebanon.
Don't worry that the attacks on Gaza further cement the cynicism of the Sunni world, as well as those engaged in finding a solution for the Palestinian people. Not too worry that allowing Israel to blow up southern Lebanon with American munitions will send a signal to SHI'A across the Middle East ... Shi'a, don't matter to Americans anymore than they do to the majority of Sunni.
Hypocrisy is the air these guys breathe.
If the wheels are coming off, now, in Iraq, and possibly Afghanistan as well, the next big surprise could be Pakistan bolting. Musharaf's words to Tony Blair sure sounded like a warning to me: "you will be driven to your knees ..." without Pakistan's assistance.
And, as if to prove the point, the Taliban are resurgent.
Bush is faced now, with sending an additional 50,000 American troops into Iraq, and perhaps 10,000 more into Afghanistan, but that won't work. The solution is a political one, and Bush, et al, are too stubborn to pursue a complex arrangement in both of the "central and Italian fronts" in the War On Terrorr.
The facts are this:
1. Based on the reality imposed on the Palestinians, in Gaza, and the Shia, in Lebanon, Arabs and Muslims do not matter as much as Christians and Jews, Americans and Israelis. They never will. These two examples prove that point all too well. If push comes to shove, Israel will NEVER be sacrificed for a real chance to solve the Palestinian Israeli conflict.
2. Even though the United States was on the WINNING side in: World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Gulf War, and won, militarily, even in Vietnam, and, WON the Cold War in a téte a téte with the Soviet Union ... we NEVER asked Congress to approve torture, or the most egregious invasions of our own civil liberties in our history.
3. Somehow: the Kaiser and the Nazis, Italians and Japanese; Chinese and Russian Communits; nasty North Koreans and North Vietnamese; even Saddam Hussein ... were not bad enough to abridge the Geneva Convention and authorize "rough interrogation," and complete sandbagging of jurisprudence rules for "enemy combatants." Never during the Cold War, did we decide that torturing Soviet KGB or Chinese spies warranted torture.
4. Now, as we're fighting Muslims and Arabs, the gloves are off.
5. The Israelis gave the Bushistas a head full of "Arabs respect brutality and tough actions. Don't blink. Kick them when they are down, kick their teeth out, and kick them everywhere else it hurts to keep them from EVER getting back up. That's what Arabs respect."
6. THAT's the reality Arabs and Muslims see on al-Jazeera, and let's cut the crap. They even HEAR that the Israelis told the Americans to be tough. No holds barred.
THAT's the reality.
And so, yes, it IS a Crusade.
Christian Nation and Jewish Nation combined to squash any Muslim or Arab nation that resists.
I wish it weren't so.
I am appalled it IS so.
I am ashamed of my country.
THIS is what I fought for in 1966, as a combat infantryman in Vietnam? This is what I nearly lost my right arm for? This is what I am 70% disabled by PTSD? This is the fruit of Democracy spread "around the world?" Images of setting myself on fire, like Buddhist monks did, in Vietnam, in 1964 and 1965, when John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, and Max Clelland, and even John McCain were assailed by the Bushistas Swift Boat boys?
The depression of facing THAT during the 2004 campaign?
I'm sick to death of arm chair generals talking tough.
The United States, as a Superpower, is already OVER the zenith.
The United States' true power is not due to it's nuclear arsenal ... it's fully connected with it's conventional military forces.
That's done.
We've shattered those forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Josepf Bodansky, in his book, "The Secret History of the Iraq War," predicted that just about EVERY Arab and Muslim state in the Hub of Islam had a vested interest in ensuring the U.S. is HUMILIATED in Iraq. So that the U.S. NEVER returns to fight there.
We're on our way.
But, as a combat veteran, who was also one of the first to come out publicly, while still in an Army hospital recovering from gunshot wounds of a serious nature, and malaria, in the summer of 1967 -- I can say that the use of torture, and the amorality often practiced by regimes which have used torture for centuries, is the kick in the American groin we will NOT recover from.
And these power addicts, who had other things to do during Vietnam, therefore, never learned the lessons we, who were there, learned.
John Kerry; Bob Kerry; Bill Smith; John McCain (until he sold out several days ago); John Murtha ... we kissed Evil's lips, or necked with her ... but somehow, walked away, damaged, but not destroyed.
People like Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, are so filled with hubris that they believe they can dance with Evil, and not be contaminated.
Scott Peck, in his book, "The People of the Lie," states, that those who believe they can CALL Evil, and Identify it, and chastize it ... invariably are corrupted by Evil, and BECOME evil themselves.
So, yeah, these guys are hypocrites.
But they're far worse than that.
They've forever cost us our dignity and self respect.
There's no coming back from that.

Mr Jamai,
Thanks to Mr Bush's whimsical compaign against terrorism,the Moroccan regime has still good days ahead.Once the white House changes its tenant,the tune will change.At that time Morocco will have to abduct its abject ways of treating people.Moroccan parties are taking advantage of the same frame :they are hidden behind a monarchy which is squandering its symbolic capital in a terrifying way.I really wander if there is anybody close to the king who can help the king avoid this swifting loss of weight to Islamists.Without these two forces,namely the king and the democratic parties,which should define the rules of the political game and abide by them,the Islamists are the only part which will take advantage of the matter.In a country which has been ruled since 1956,date of its independence,in a totalitarian way,the advent of Islamists who claim equity and correctness is more than welcome.

There is no common ressamblance with US imperializm materilized in Iraq invasion ( the murder of 700.000 iraqis), and the moroccan king government, we re not talking about the same thing, you should compare oranges with oranges and apples with apples. Bush and his hawks have engaged a criminal war against a sovereign country under false mobiles, in order to steal its resources,and may be for some other messianic, religious other reasons.full stop.
The moroccan king still totalitarian toward his people ( it has nothing to do with imperializm, look at dictionnary)the problem is actually domestic, local, so the king entourage is taking advantage of that situation, and everybody in Morocco is hiding under the cover of the king obedience.
Even what we call democracy in the US is changing now to a (Ploutocracy: one small group who leads), as a matter of fact, the majority of americans don't like Bush administration and are against war, but nobody cares about ther opinion.

Mister Jamai :

I don't think that what you called the Moroccan regime that you are describing is so bad,there is still some much violations of the basic human rights in the last years,and also some unjust judgements against the independent press,but you should not generalize,there is some important good things that were done in the right direction,especially in economic freedom,recently the IMF has praises the economic reforms in Morocco http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pn/2006/pn06115.htm

I don't agree with you that what you called the US support for the Moroccan regime is the crucial point that make him survive,the political system in Morocco is former to Bush,and it could survive without it, the US need Morocco more than Morocco need US.

I am totally agrred with Mr. Jamai, Morocco is gorverned by a dictatorship, and I don't see any difference between him and his late father.
One of the core values of a democratic society is to elect its gouvernement but until now the Moroccan regime is playing games with the political paties when it comes to changing the Article 19 of the constitution.
If you are part of the interal circle, you have anything, and do anything you want otherwise you will be living in poverty. And we wont see the change as long as this regime is supporting the Bush administration.
What bothers me is the
Moroccan regime is doing the dirty job for the CIA.

Being a regular reader of your editorial columns Boubker, I must say that reading your post caught me by surprise. Politics may have gone "blogal", but global politics have yet to break away from big brother's self serving interests. Checking out the geopolitical map, Morocco is a no show in the scheme of things at the present time I have to say!
This being said, do you really think it is the duty of the "the American civil society, press, Human right NGO's" (all of which come in so many flavors) to expose the repressive practices of the Moroccan regime? Nor it is "the only way to help tilting the balance in favor of genuine democratic forces in our countries" as you said? Come on! And be careful what you ask for as we may just get it! Outsourcing democracy may turn out to be a rather crapy business, and I have Iraq in mind. Listen to what David Brooks had to say to Chris Mathiews here http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/15/what-about-all-those-purple-fingers/ , and tell me where did all those Iraqi purple fingers have gone.
On the other hand I believe that there is a whole bunch of cleaning to be done in the Moroccan press/media by the Moroccan press/media itself first and foremost, your magazine included, which has yet to establish credibility and earn the trust of the average reader. The WP could never dream to get away with an orphan statement such as "The king, the most important businessman in Morocco, personally controls more than 30% of the national stock market" as you claim. An awful scary (loaded?) statement which may well be true, however exasperating to the skeptical reader to say the least..
As Bush said: it's hard, very hard..

Good luck Boub

Moh

Being a regular reader of your editorial columns Boubker, I must say that reading your post caught me by surprise. Politics may have gone "blogal", but global politics have yet to break away from big brother's self serving interests. Checking out the geopolitical map, Morocco is a no show in the scheme of things at the present time I have to say!
This being said, do you really think it is the duty of the "the American civil society, press, Human right NGO's" (all of which come in so many flavors) to expose the repressive practices of the Moroccan regime? Nor it is "the only way to help tilting the balance in favor of genuine democratic forces in our countries" as you said? Come on! And be careful what you ask for as we may just get it! Outsourcing democracy may turn out to be a rather crapy business, and I have Iraq in mind. Listen to what David Brooks had to say to Chris Mathiews here http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/15/what-about-all-those-purple-fingers/ , and tell me where did all those Iraqi purple fingers have gone.
On the other hand I believe that there is a whole bunch of cleaning to be done in the Moroccan press/media by the Moroccan press/media itself first and foremost, your magazine included, which has yet to establish credibility and earn the trust of the average reader. The WP could never dream to get away with an orphan statement such as "The king, the most important businessman in Morocco, personally controls more than 30% of the national stock market" as you claim. An awful scary (loaded?) statement which may well be true, however exasperating to the skeptical reader to say the least..
As Bush said: it's hard, very hard..

Good luck Boub

Moh

Mr Jamai,
Do you really think that Bush administration care about people here in Morocco and their liberty? If so then forgeive me to tell you that you are a naive man, All what matter for americans is their own interest, and for now, The regims in the midle east and north africa, including moroccan regim are ready to serve american much more then their citezens are, the point here is, a moroccan democratic regim is not in american interests, because they can't "export" prisoniers to be tortured here if the regim was democratic and respects humain rights (that's only an exemple), so please dont keep hoping any help from US, I know you are doing a good job as independants journalists, but it's not enough, what we need is a real opposition, unfortunately Hassn 2 was clever enough to break the only opposition and clean they way for his son, who is ruling alone (Well, actually with his buddies!) now, while the elite is simply corrupted, beleive me Mr Boubker, what we need in Morocco is men like Ben Berka or Boubid, men who are stright, popular enough and can say NO to the king or his friends! and you know, what a pity, we dont have poeple like them anymore.

By his intervention Aboubakr want to underline and make the point that the Bush administration is fueling terrorism rather than finding adequate solutions to a problem who can be solved by different means.
Bush and his administration support "friendly" undemocratic and autocratic governments all over the world, they are outsourcing torture (rendition) in countries like Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria.....

This administration is highly hypocrite, while they are talking about bringing democracy and respect of human rights in the arab world and other places, they are the first to violate the basic human rights by helding people incognito in Guantanamo, by helding US Citizens and Non-Citizens as enemy combattants with no charges and without the basic right for these prisoners to see the alleged evidence against them or to challenge these evidence in court with the presence of a lawyer.

The occupation of Irak is the big gift never dreamed that Bush administration has given to a terrorist organization like Alqaida, by giving the green light to Olmert to bombard and wage war against Hezbolah,Lebanon and the occuppied territories (Palestine) Bush has put more oil in the fire.

The damages done to the international credibility of the USA are beyond any expectations, I believe that before talking about regime changes all around the world,we badly need a regime change in Washington, D.C.

Thank to Mr Jamai to bring my country under spotlights.
Do anyone knows any journalist from the whole arab world talking so bitterly about it's own country ? In fact, he is not alone, and most young journalists are now throwing red bullets on the monarchy, in order to gain more readers. The matter is that Mr jamai and all the others alike, are living in morocco, producing their newspapers in it and living in a higher economic standard. Neverthless they hope they are great militants famous in western countries. What's wrong in Morocco Mr Jamai, is that people like you can write whatever they "imagine", sometimes pure rabbish, and make too much money and a lot of "friends" (with that money)abroad telling them they are militant of freedom, democracy !!

Tu as tort de denoncer les caricatures. Au mois, aies la rectitude journalistique de laisser les gens s'exprimer comme ils veulent. Jusqu'a aujourd'hui, Je suis un avid lecteur de ton torchon, a partir de maintenant, apres lecture, je vais essuyer mon cul avec. Tu as vendu ton ame et tu as retourne ta veste. Tes propos ne concernent que toi alors garde les pour toi, pas la peine de profiter de ton journal pour vomir ton ignorance et afficher ton leche cul accablant.
Tu n'es point musulman, tu es une marionette qui opere avec une pile 12 volt sioniste.

All these expectations from american civil society... and jumpings around Bush and US administration...haha, and blabla the king of Morocco have more than 30% of the capital...the whole thing on the honourable columns of the Wash.post forum means only one thing ; We Morrocans, educated or not...pseudo journalists...or pseudo politicians...or even pseudo Morrocan citizens, we still expect to be saved by the legends and myths of the great others...! we are waiting to be understood by those who really understand...and who will leads us to realise our democracy !. But why not, dear american readers, you should know that for a Moroccan Like our friend Boub; beeing invited to wash-post Blog or forum is like to receive the nobel prize of mathematics and proof to stupid poor Moroccans that they don't understand anything in mathematics. When Moroccan will have the conscience of facing the same futur, and when they will understand that they have a common interest to relize democraty, they'll do it ! Unfortunately, the King of Morocco mentionned in this forum understand it very well, and can not change anything when people won't change anything...! and that's the opposite when we talk about Bush case with americans; americans understands their common objective and interest but not Mr Bush !