Bratislava, Iraq, and the 'brown-nosing' of Bush
DB: Predictably, Bush compared the 1989 Slovak-Czech break from communist rule - which was bloodless, and came from the people themselves - with the illegal regime change, and occupation which was imposed on Iraq - where the true numbers of Iraqi dead has never been established - but the brutality of the undertaking has never been in question.
Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda's government's decision to maintain the small, but symbolic force of 100 non-combatant troops in Iraq is more indicative of the government's need - both economic and political - to win 'friends' rather than reflecting a genuine spirit of a shared vision amongst the people of Slovakia.
"I see the presence of troops in Iraq negatively. There is no reason to be there," said Jan Galusek, a 63-year-old retiree. "By being there, Slovakia is taking part in something illegal. It just adds to the government's unpopularity," he said. "There has always been some type of brown-nosing here - at first brown-nosing Stalin, and now the United States." For a country of around 5.5 million inhabitants, "brown-nosing" to some extent has to be a fact of life, however there is an increasing number of Slovakians who are questioning whether or not Bush's government is the correct target. A recent poll of 505 people interviewed by the Markant agency on Feb. 16-17 showed that 43 percent said they viewed Putin as the guarantor of democracy in the world, and only 35.9 percent said they thought of Bush in that way. Whilst the sample is relatively small, it does indicate that 'life according to Bush' is not a universally accepted concept.
Given that over 70% of Slovak exports are destined for the EU, whilst the US account for just 4.7%, and the inevitable pressure that Slovakia will come under in the future to sing from the EU hymn sheet - Bush's vague assurance that the Slovak and US governments were working together to "ease visa requirements", which was always going to raise a loud cheer, will not in itself guarantee a permanent, pliable, brown-nosing partner.
Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda's government's decision to maintain the small, but symbolic force of 100 non-combatant troops in Iraq is more indicative of the government's need - both economic and political - to win 'friends' rather than reflecting a genuine spirit of a shared vision amongst the people of Slovakia.
"I see the presence of troops in Iraq negatively. There is no reason to be there," said Jan Galusek, a 63-year-old retiree. "By being there, Slovakia is taking part in something illegal. It just adds to the government's unpopularity," he said. "There has always been some type of brown-nosing here - at first brown-nosing Stalin, and now the United States." For a country of around 5.5 million inhabitants, "brown-nosing" to some extent has to be a fact of life, however there is an increasing number of Slovakians who are questioning whether or not Bush's government is the correct target. A recent poll of 505 people interviewed by the Markant agency on Feb. 16-17 showed that 43 percent said they viewed Putin as the guarantor of democracy in the world, and only 35.9 percent said they thought of Bush in that way. Whilst the sample is relatively small, it does indicate that 'life according to Bush' is not a universally accepted concept.
Given that over 70% of Slovak exports are destined for the EU, whilst the US account for just 4.7%, and the inevitable pressure that Slovakia will come under in the future to sing from the EU hymn sheet - Bush's vague assurance that the Slovak and US governments were working together to "ease visa requirements", which was always going to raise a loud cheer, will not in itself guarantee a permanent, pliable, brown-nosing partner.
posted by exoplanet at 4:19 PM
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