GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution.</s>CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: That was President Bush this week. He was calling for governments in the Middle East to make democratic reforms. CNN's Ben Wedeman has reaction from the region on that speech.</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Thirty-five years of repressed anger, resentment and frustration have suddenly been released. The result is a sometimes chaotic, often violent maelstrom of political and social upheaval. And out of this maelstrom, the Bush administration hopes to create a beacon of democracy for the Middle East, a task the American president himself admits is a massive and difficult undertaking. Ideas old and new are the stock and trade on Baghdad's Watanabi Street (ph), where intellectual students and bookworms gather to buy and sell books and magazines that just a few months ago were strictly forbidden. Today, a new view, or rather new views of the world are on sale. Calls for democracy from whatever quarter are welcomed here. "We're enthusiastic for democracy." "We are calling for democracy," says self-styled pacifist Basa Jenebi (ph). "That is the only route for us. All other ideologies have failed." And after seven months of what many here see as sometimes bumbling American rule, questions about when Iraq's experiment in democracy is going to get off the ground.</s>KHALID DASSAM, TRANSLATOR: We haven't seen any democracy yet. But their excuse is, give us a chance. Give us a chance. Give us a time to show our administration. But unfortunately, as you know, the American administration in the world hasn't got that good impression.</s>WEDEMAN: And if democracy is to take root here, first impressions count. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Baghdad.
Middle East Reacts to Bush's Speech