No recent American President has promised to do more to combat repression than President George W. Bush. In his second inaugural address in January 2005, he pledged the United States to the goal of ending tyranny in the 21st century. His freedom agenda, formulated in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, seeks to combat not just Islamic extremism but also all states that keep their people unfree.
...And the freedom agenda has remained notably hapless before challenges that lie outside the terror orbit, in particular in countries that pursue economic liberalization while stifling political reforms.
...These countries do not fit neatly into the freedom agenda's framework of good versus evil, free versus unfree. They promote economic growth, liberalize trade and investment and strengthen entrepreneurialism. As a result, millions of people are materially better off now than they have ever been before. Yet all the while, their governments manage to maintain a brutal grasp on political power.
The whole article is chock-full of authoritarian worship. The War Street Journal complains that the US has not spread freedom to China. Does that mean US-style "freedom," as in lifestyle fascism, corporatism, pharmaceuticalism, political tyranny, warfare-imperialism, medical-industrial fascism, and all-around collectivism?
