On Jan 29 President Obama again disappointed with his failure to call for the resignation of the Egyptian dictator Mubarak - here
Not long ago it was Obama who had delivered a historic speech in Cairo. One of the mistakes the U.S. has consistently made in its foreign policy is to back stability (i.e. the powerful elite) over the will of the people (i.e. democracy). Iran is a case in point where the USA's backing of the Shah alienated it from the people longing for freedom from tyranny.
Mark Levine writes: "Obama doesn't seem to understand that the US doesn't need to "take the fight" to al-Qaeda, or even fire a single shot, to score its greatest victory in the "war on terror". Supporting real democratisation will do more to downgrade al-Qaeda's capabilities than any number of military attacks. He had better gain this understanding quickly because in the next hours or days the Egypt's revolution will likely face its moment of truth. And right behind Egypt are Yemen, Jordan, Algeria, and who knows what other countries, all looking to free themselves of governments that the US and its European allies have uncritically supported for decades." Read more
Juan Cole connects the current crises in Egypt to the neo-liberal policies pursued by Mubarak with USA urging, where the educated and largely unemployed class were sidelined by foreign interests and Egyptian elite (oligarchy). - read more (see post on 1/30/2011)
Learn more about conflict on Earth here
No comments:
Post a Comment