Bush and Democracy: an email exchange with the BBC

Dear Jonathan Beale,
BBC state department correspondent

In “US nurtures key South Asia ties” (By Jonathan Beale, BBC News website, Thursday, 2 March 2006), you write:

“India is the world's biggest democracy, a shining, though not perfect, example of the kinds of values President Bush wants to spread around the world.”

Question: When you write “the kinds of values President Bush wants to spread around the world” what do you exactly mean? Democratic values? On which evidence do you write that?

Thank you for your time and I look forward for your comments.

Kind regards,
Gabriele Zamparini

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Yes democratic values. I write that on the basis that its President Bush's main foreign policy goal - the fact that the administration is spending billions of dollars every year on promoting democracy around the globe. I am sure you can decide as to whether its working or not.

best wishes [Jonathan Beale]

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Dear Jonathan Beale,

Thank you for your reply.

How do you know that “President Bush's main foreign policy goal” is “democratic values”?

How do you know that those “billions of dollars every year” are spent “on promoting democracy around the globe” ?

As a journalist, which evidence do you have besides what the administration writes and says?

As a journalist, shouldn’t you look at the facts, evidence, proofs and compare that with President Bush's (or any other government’s) words?

The US State Department has just published “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2005. Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. March 8, 2006”

The introduction reads:

“President Bush has committed the United States to working with other democracies and men and women of goodwill across the globe to reach an historic long-term goal: ‘the end of tyranny in our world.’”

Can you see that you are simply echoing the same message, working as a mouthpiece for the US Administration? Are you the BBC state department correspondent or are you working for the state department? Shouldn’t there be a difference?

Thank you for your time and I look forward for your comments.

Kind regards,
Gabriele Zamparini