David Seaton's picture

    America's future role in the Middle East

    By David Seaton on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 9:01am |

    "There are forces at work in any society, and particularly one that is facing these kinds of challenges, that will try to derail or overtake the process to pursue their own specific agenda.... [That is] why I think it is important to support the transition process announced by the Egyptian government, actually headed by now Vice-President Omar Suleiman." - Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State

     

    When will Washington learn that you cannot simultaneously proclaim your commitment to democracy and freedom and then insist on dictating who is allowed to win? - Stephen Walt

     

    It's worth remembering what has led to the rise of Islamic extremism and anti-American rage in the Middle East. Arabs see Washington as having supported brutal dictatorships that suppress their people. They believe that it ignored this suppression as long as the regimes toed the line on American foreign policy. If Washington is now perceived as brokering a deal that keeps a military dictatorship in power in Egypt, de jure or de facto, the result will be deep disappointment and frustration on the streets of Cairo. Over time, it will make opposition to the regime and to the United States more hard-line, more religious and more violent. - Fareed Zakaria

     

    "In this world, it is often dangerous to be an enemy of the United States, but to be a friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

     It would appear that not only is Israel the Middle East's sole vibrant democracy, the United States is sparing no effort, leaving no stone unturned, to keep it that way.

     

    Seeing how the US administration is handling the grassroots rebellion in Egypt (it is much too early to call it a "revolution"),  it would appear that except for supporting  the region's necklace of military dictatorships and their mukhabarat state security forces, the USA has no role in the Middle East other than  to assist Israel in killing people and blowing things up.

     

    American pronouncements about democracy, its institutions and the rule of law sound more and more like the following video:

    At this point the conflict of interests between America's realpolitik-geopolitical-superpower necessity to dominate and control the world's access to the oil reserves of the Middle East and the purely domestic, but no less  plumbean, imperative to defend à outrance Israel's right to maintain an atomic-apartheid, Club Mediterranee in the midst of such spectacular and oil-soaked misery, seemingly has the United States paralyzed in its hypocrisy. 

    Cross posted from: http://seaton-newslinks.blogspot.com

    Comments

    This Egyptian rebellion is nothing more than a St. Jude moment simply because there aren't any leaders with a vision where they would steer the country. How successful would the American revolution have been if there wasn't Jefferson, Paine, Adams, Revere, Franklin, Washington, Hamilton and others with a vision where they wanted to go? All the rioters accomplished was creating a vacuum. And nature abhors a vacuum so something will get sucked into the void they created. And it may be worst than what they had before. They may have a right to be angry, but venting it without having a plan first opens them to reprisals by whomever succeeds in harnessing the reins of power. The fate of the masses is being decided by the same power brokers that created the strife to begin with. So they're no better off than before it not worst.


    by Beetlejuice on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 9:53am

    That is pretty much it. I think the Russian revolution without Lenin is more apt a comparison. America's revolution was not a revolution of the masses like Russia's, if was a rebellion of the "criollo" elite against the metropolitan power. To have a revolution requires professional revolutionaries.


    by David Seaton on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 10:15am

    Better not let the tea-baggers know the founding fathers they've been worshipping were of the elite class, not the salt of the earth.


    by Beetlejuice on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 12:07pm

    Sometimes I am at a loss David.

     

    What in the hell is the U.S. supposed to be doing?

    I mean I am all for taking our armies out of the region. I have been for years.

    But just looking at these recent protests in three countries or more; what in the hell are we supposed to be doing?


    by Richard Day on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 3:39pm

    "Your whisper from the dark has now become a plea."...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mH-L6UCCAE&feature=related


    by Resistance on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 3:57pm

    Yeah the prime directive or

    The first rule is to do no harm!


    by Richard Day on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 4:20pm

    When I was sick, you gave me bitter pills, And I must minister the like to you.
    Author: William Shakespeare Two Gentlemenof Verona (Proteus at II, iv),,,I don't know much about Shakespeare, but I think this one works


    by Resistance on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 4:44pm

    A first step, Richard, would be to stop propping up repressive, anti-democratic regimes solely because they toe the American foreign-policy line.

    A second step would be to redefine exactly what "U.S. interests" actually consist of. Right now, they are largely defined as being short-term financial gain by whichever oil giant, arms manufacturer or other lobby group pours the most money into congressional and presidential campaigns. Their interests are often completely at odds with the security and economic interests of Americans as a whole.

    Maybe then (in some far distant future), the U.S. could actually attempt to fashion a foreign policy built on the fundamental principles it claims to believe in, beginning with democracy and civil rights for everyone in the world. By civil rights I mean the basics: food, water, housing, education, health care, freedom of speech, religion and association, etc.

    Stop asking what the U.S. should be doing NOW, when the shit has hit the fan. Stop throwing shit at the fan! NOW!


    by acanuck on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 4:33pm

    Stop throwing shit at the fan!

    That's a crazy enough idea that it just might work! Nah…


    by Verified Atheist on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 4:45pm

    In some countries, the people are forced to gather dung, it keeps them warm and cooks the food. 

    Not a good thing, but what else can they do, it's all they've got?

    If America didn't send foreign aid to Egypt, what would the poor have?

    The French Revolution punished many innocent people, before it was over.


    by Resistance on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 5:14pm

    The French Revolution punished many innocent people, before it was over

    And Thomas Jefferson said that was a price worth paying. I'm afraid the right wing has adopted that idea full on while kowing full well that they are not innocnt and so should be safe.


    by A Guy Called LULU on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 5:20pm

    They say that you can't make an omlette without breaking some eggs.


    by David Seaton on Tue, 02/08/2011 - 1:34am

    I do object, Beetle, to your calling the people in Tahrir Square "rioters." All the violence that occurred came when they were attacked by Interior Ministry thugs. The protesters have done much more than create a vacuum; they've reignited Egyptians' sense of dignity, convincing millions they can shape their own fate. They've overcome the fear that let ruthless, self-serving, kleptocratic thugs dominate them for decades. A crucial first step toward creating a country that answers to the people's basic needs.

    They lacked leaders and a plan because, unlike in pre-Revolution America, the Mubarak regime (and those that preceded it) have spent decades suppressing and/or co-opting every leader or movement that threatened to emerge. The demonstrators may have to settle for something short of what they wanted this time around, but revolutions (especially ones that start by accident) don't often win the first time round. Ask the Decembrists.


    by acanuck on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 4:47pm

    I admire your grasp of reality, acanuck. Please don't ever stop sharing it with others. It needs to be heard! Hopefully, understanding will follow. Keep the faith!


    by SleepinJeezus on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 5:35pm

    It's a corporate world and money rules, even the envoy Hillary sent is on Mubarek's payroll, no wonder he supported Mubarek handling the 'transition' and in Egypt. As Chomsky says, we promote democracy in the Russian/China sphere, in ours dictators are OK as long as they fatten the deep pockets of the rich and powerful in America, and, of course, don't oppose the border-less apartheid project called Israel.


    by NCD on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 3:49pm

    The United States had a similar event in the spring and summer of 1932.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_army

    At 4:45 p.m., commanded by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, ……., supported by six battle tanks commanded by Maj. George S. Patton, formed in Pennsylvania Avenue while thousands ............ believing the troops were marching in their honor, cheered the troops until Maj. Patton ordered the cavalry to charge them—an action which prompted the civil service spectators to yell, "Shame! Shame!"

    After the cavalry charged, the infantry, with fixed bayonets and adamsite gas, an arsenical vomiting agent, entered the camps, evicting veterans, families, and camp followers


    by Resistance on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 5:48pm

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