The protests in Indonesia which accompanied Bush’s visit should have shamed him as if he were naked. Indeed, the Muslim crowds stripped his foreign policy of its moralistic garb.
Bush, however, called the protests “a sign of healthy society.” Perhaps he missed the barbed wire and roadblocks that stopped the demonstrators. Muslim crowds seething with hatred are anything but a healthy society.
Thousands of people wearing “US terrorist” bandanas and clashing with the police despite heavy rain are not a nation that supports the US.
Indonesia’s dictators, putsches, strong police control, and periodic ethnic butcheries did not prevent Bush from calling it an exemplary democracy. The Indonesian government might be a US ally against terrorism, but many Indonesians are actively involved in terrorism.
Bush praised Indonesia’s friendship and anti-terrorist stance. The naked emperor similarly praised his new clothes.
