Source: The Boston Globe
On May 10, 2005 The Boston Globe reported, "To American eyes it might seem that moderation and democracy are budding in much of the Islamic world. In addition to the national elections, there are hints of change in Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. And moderate Islamists already are running Turkey and Indonesia. But from Rabat to Bali -- in mosques, cafes, shops, and offices, among peddlers and professors visited by a Globe reporter over the past year -- the currents of opinion are much more complicated, and darker, than that. The better educated believe that the United States is cynical about where it presses the democratic cause, making exceptions for authoritarian regimes in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which it counts as key allies, and giving a free hand to Israel in its treatment of the Palestinians. Many people in the streets voice a much harsher view, believing quite literally that the United States is motivated by a desire to steal the region's natural resources and, in places where the military is deployed, prey upon Muslim women."