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America has been a beacon for people of the Middle East because of what we stand for. The greatest test for our policy is that it exemplifies the behavior we expect of others. But we are in danger of failing that test. As an Ambassador, on instructions from our government, I repeatedly lectured the leaders of Arab governments about their practices of indefinite detention of prisoners without trial, torturing prisoners during interrogation, denying prisoners legal council, maintaining secret military courts and trials, stifling dissent, and compromising freedom of the press.

Now, people in the region believe the United States is embracing many of these same policies. In their eyes this justifies the behavior of states in the region that engage in such practices. One Arab friend told me: “We wanted to follow your example, not to have you follow ours!”

We don’t see ourselves this way, but how do we explain to the Arab world the practices at Guantanamo, or in our immigration system – indefinite detention without trial, detention without the right to counsel, military courts, etc? How do we advocate a free press in the region while we are taking steps to pressure Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya into censoring their reporting from Iraq? How do we explain the graphic pictures of Iraqi prisoners being humiliated and the allegations of abuse in Justice Department detention centers?

We can say that the abuses are limited to a few individuals. We must hope that is correct, although senior military officers and political figures also must be held accountable for inadequate training and supervision. Moreover, abuses are taking place in an environment in which civil liberties are being curtailed in the United States itself. Some consider it acceptable behavior to demean Arabs and Muslims or to limit their freedoms in the name of homeland security. The excesses of individuals are only possible in the absence of strong leadership. The President began well after September 11, but in the intervening period his record has become garbled. He is relying on the courts and investigations to provide our moral compass. And that absence of leadership has its impact on an environment that is permissive to the old Goldwater slogan: “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.” Is that what we stand for today? We are paying a price for this environment and it may come back to haunt us. When I worked for the US government in the region, I was instructed to speak to Arab leaders on issues such as these. Now, our image is being used to justify negative practices by others.

Thirty-eight years ago, then Sen. J.W. Fulbright wrote a passage which applies equally well now to the challenges we face in dealing with the Saudis and the broader Islamic world. He wrote of “two Americas.”

“One is generous and humane, the other narrowly egotistical; one is self-critical, the other self-righteous; one is sensible, the other is romantic; one is good-humored, the other solemn; one is inquiring, the other pontificating; one is moderate; the other filled with passionate intensity; one is judicious, the other arrogant in the use of great power….”

“There has been a tendency through the years for reason and moderation to prevail as long as things are going tolerably well or as long as our problems seem clear and finite and manageable. But when things have gone badly for any length of time, or when the reasons for adversity have seemed obscure, or simply when some event or leader of opinion has aroused the people to a state of high emotion, our puritan spirit has tended to break through, leading us to look at the world through the distorting prism of a harsh and angry moralism.”

The American example is critical to the hopes of many in the region that their countries can move toward democracy and fair treatment for all. If we appear to be hypocritical in our approach to civil liberties and our preaching of democracy to others, we will fail in the President’s efforts to change the region. I do not suggest for a minute that we should relax our security posture. But I wonder if what we are doing and the way we are doing it actually helps?

On the 4th of February this year, at the Library of Congress, President Bush shared his concept of a new Middle East where our system of values could prevail. He said: “We are the heirs of the tradition of liberty, defenders of the freedom, the conscience and the dignity of every person.” He added: “We seek the advance of democracy for the most practical of reasons: because democracies do not support terrorists or threaten the world with weapons of mass murder.”

If the perception grows in the region that we do not respect our own values, then we will sell out every moderate and reformer in the Arab World and we can kiss the hopes for democracy goodbye.