Pretty Good Speech, But …

I'm wondering what our "friends" in places like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Jordan and the like make of these lines:

We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies.

We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people. America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies, yet rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty.

I hope such "friends" are rushing out to consult scholars on how to establish constitutional republics ASAP, but I somehow doubt it. Nevertheless, I also hope that President Bush meant that he plans to implement something like the Reagan Doctrine to help oppressed people free themselves when he said:

So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world….Our goal … is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.