This coming week marks the second year anniversary of “Shock and Awe” and the invasion of Iraq. To many soldiers, their families and people across this country, the war that was supposed to be a cakewalk has now become a daily routine of car bombs and fears of that phone call.
But new hints of democratic reform blowing through the Middle East this spring could offer some good news, and some are crediting the Bush Administration with beginning this change.
From the West Bank to Basra to Beirut, people have been in the streets, demanding human rights, self-determination, and reform. But before President Bush claims victory for the “Arab Spring” critics point out that there is still plenty of anti-American sentiment there, and that civil wars, and new crackdowns remain a distinct possibility.
Guests:
David Ignatius, columnist with the Washington Post
Mona Makram Ebeid, Secretary General of the Party of Tomorrow, a pro-democracy party in Egypt whose leader Ayman Nour was recently released from jail
Amotz Asa-El, Executive Editor, The Jerusalem Post
Michael Young, columnist with The Daily Star in Lebanon
Thanassis Cambanis, Baghdad correspondent for The Boston Globe.