From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:ASIA: For many Muslim nations, Bush defeat is uplifting news
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 02:09:02 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Asia, southern
Title: ASIA: For many Muslim nations, Bush defeat is uplifting news


an inter press service feature

by mushahid hussain

islamabad, nov 4 (ips) -- across parts of the muslim world,
news of president george bush's ignominious defeat in the u.s.
elections wednesday has been uplifting news.

in many of these countries bush is seen to be the arrogant
architect of the 'new world order' who needed an enemy, and
simply replaced communism with islam to focus his attention on
with the end of the cold war.

for many developing countries and some in the muslim world,
nothing epitomised this arrogance more than the u.s.-led attack
on iraq in january 1991.

iraq's punishment for having invaded kuwait was to be bombed
back to the middle ages, but they felt it was hypocritical of
bush not to mete out similar punishment on other nations that
over-ran little neighbours.

so, 18 months after he won the gulf war and soared in
popularity ratings at home to an unprecedented 91 percent, bush
is voted out of office -- much to the delight of saddam hussein.

'saddam hussein still has his job, do you?' was a favourite
bumper sticker in the united states earlier this year, reflecting
bush's failure to ride the wave of glory by repeating his gulf
war victory over the domestic economy.

the texas multi-millionaire and independent candidate, ross
perot, said during the campaign: ''the only thing that the gulf
war did was to hand back the emir of kuwait his palace.''

even bush's desperate last-minute campaign tactic of warning
his country that saddam hussein planned to have a party in
baghdad if he was defeated seemed to have backfired. voters were
reminded that the iraqi dictator was not vanquished.

in its first presidential election after the demise of the
soviet union and the cold war, the united states, instead of
basking in the warm glow of victory, looked inward at domestic
social and economy decay.

''with the soviet union gone, any serious discussion of
foreign policy simply ceased at the level of presidential
politics,'' said one leading middle eastern commentator here.

president-elect bill clinton's tactic was to make the u.s.
economy itself an international strategic and security issue.
(more/ips)

asia: for (2)

analysts say this increasing self-doubt about its role as the
only superpower has forced the united states to take the role of
a military power in a tri-polar world where europe and japan take
the roles of political and economic powers.

bush took the role of global policeman seriously: by a divide-
and-rule policy in the arab world, protecting western strategic
interests wherever it was threatened, and using the united
nations as cover whenever convenient.

countries perceived to be 'fundamentalist' like iran, iraq,
syria or pakistan had their militaries emasculated, while
'moderates' like saudi arabia and egypt were rewarded.

in south asia, the new post-cold war scenario has
dramatically shifted geo-political alliances.

india is cosying up to washington, and this process is
expected to accelerate with the clinton administration's emphasis
on human rights and democracy.

there will be no tears shed for bush in muslim pakistan, but
most analysts here say washington's carrot-and-stick approach to
dissuade pakistan from rolling back its nuclear programme will
continue.

''but we expect less bullying and arm-twisting from the
clinton administration,'' said one senior official here.

pakistani officials are bitter at bush for cutting off
economic and military help in 1990 even though pakistan was the
first non-arab muslim country to offer troops for the anti-iraq
coalition despite domestic opposition to the move.

pakistani officials felt the bush administration singled their
country out unfairly while letting other suspected nuclear powers
like india and israel go scot-free.

muslim countries in the region have also voiced varying
degrees of opposition to the perceived double standards in arms
sales in the volatile west asian region.

after itself selling billions of dollars' worth of f-15
fighter jets to saudi arabia last month, the bush administration
blocked the sale of two ageing russian diesel submarines to iran.

washington reportedly asked saudi arabia last month to pay
hard-up moscow off for the cancelled deal.

and last year, bush sent secretary of state james baker to
china to prevent beijing from going through with a deal to sell
m-11 missiles to pakistan. (end/ips/ip/mh/kd/92)