Bush demands Mid-East democracy

President George W Bush has deplored the "freedom deficit" in the Middle East and said the United States must remain focused on the region "for decades". "Our commitment to democracy is being tested in the Middle East," he said in a televised Washington speech in defence of US democracy. Mr Bush said dictators in Iraq and Syria had "left a legacy of torture, oppression, misery and ruin". Turning to Iran, he warned that "the regime in Tehran must heed the democratic demands of the Iranian people, or lose its last claim to legitimacy". But some governments in the region were...