Democracy in Egypt

Republicans have recently been claiming that the reason to go into Iraq was to spread democracy, after their previous reasons, such as existence of WMD, were refuted. To attempt to claim victory, they have been taking credit for any and all advances in democracy, even though most had little connection to the election this year in Iraq.

They especially liked to take credit for any spread of democracy in the Middle East, such as in Egypt. At the moment, things are not looking so good there. The LA Times reports that regulations are preventing the upcoming election from being very Democratic:

CAIRO — Lawmakers voted Tuesday to change the constitution to allow Egypt's first competitive presidential election, but they imposed complex rules that critics say will keep power squarely in the hands of President Hosni Mubarak and his ruling party.

The restrictions disappointed pro-democracy advocates who had hoped lawmakers would make good on Mubarak's promise to hold a free and fair vote this fall.

If Bush took credit for the spread of democracy to Egypt, would it also be fair to blame him for such anti-democratic laws?