Bush Doctrine Growing in Egypt

Egyptian judges are demanding independence from Hosni Mubarak's government -- and demanding the opportunity to oversee upcoming elections to keep Mubarak's heavy hand off the results.

This is an astounding development, given that the judges are wholly dependent on Mubarak for their appointments, salaries and the bonuses that are their real bread and butter. And they credit Bush for their courage:

"Our main aim from the start was to choose a time when those abroad would hear us," said Hisham Bastawisi, a Cairo judge on the court of appeals. "The West didn't used to listen to us; now they're listening. They used to listen only to governments and to back up dictatorships, but recently they're listening to the people."

The quote appears in a front page LATimes story that acknowledges that this quiet revolution in one of the most important of the Arab nations would not be happening if it weren't for the Bush Doctrine:

President Bush's emphasis on democratization in the Middle East, coupled with elections in Iraq and the popular uprising in Lebanon, have contributed to a sense of unease among the region's dictatorships. The president rapped Egypt in his State of the Union address for failing to reform, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reinforced that criticism by canceling a trip in February.

Soon after, amid enraged demonstrations in the streets of Cairo, Mubarak made an unexpected announcement: He promised a constitutional amendment to allow multi-candidate elections for the first time in his reign.

The reform demands were made by 1,200 judges in Alexandria. In a couple weeks, the Cairo judges will meet. There will be some heavy politicking going on during that time; let's pray the Cairo judges stand by their brothers in Alexandria.