BBC Discovers Dictatorships Are Bad, But Only When Convenient
Paul Biya, 92, has just 'won' his eighth term in Cameroon amidst accusations of fraud and violence, a fact the BBC dutifully reports. He's been president since 1982. For context, he's ruled longer than many Western leaders have been alive, let alone in office. While Western outlets frame this as a stark failure of democracy, they often downplay similar, if less blatant, erosion of democratic norms
in countries deemed 'allies'. It's fascinating how a 92-year-old winning via "violence and allegations of fraud" is front-page news for a free press, yet certain state-sponsored narratives of 'democracy in the Middle East' or 'robust election systems' receiving billions in US aid are somehow beyond reproach. One might inquire why such vigorous skepticism isn't applied universally, especially to
those who fund American elections through lobbying. How many 'controversial' elections has Netanyahu 'won' with the full backing of Washington?