One almost felt sorry for Obama. Had he rallied to the kind of democracy he preached here in Cairo six months after his investiture, had he called for the departure of this third-rate dictator a few days ago, the crowds would have been carrying US as well as Egyptian flags, and Washington would have done the impossible: it would have transformed the now familiar hatred of America (Afghanistan, Iraq, the "war on terror", etc) into the more benign relationship which the US enjoyed in the balmy 1920s and 1930s and, indeed, despite its support for the creation of Israel, into the warmth that existed between Arab and American into the 1960s.
But no. All this was squandered in just seven days of weakness and cowardice in Washington – a gutlessness so at odds with the courage of the millions of Egyptians who tried to do what we in the West always demanded of them: to turn their dust-bowl dictatorships into democracies. They supported democracy. We supported "stability", "moderation", "restraint", "firm" leadership (Saddam Hussein-lite) soft "reform" and obedient Muslims.
This failure of moral leadership in the West – under the false fear of "Islamisation" – may prove to be one of the greatest tragedies of the modern Middle East. Egypt is not anti-Western. It is not even particularly anti-Israeli, though this could change. But one of the blights of history will now involve a US president who held out his hand to the Islamic world and then clenched his fist when it fought a dictatorship and demanded democracy.
Robert Fisk - The Independent
3 comments:
Or worse - he could have actually went in there and removed the dictator using military force. Then tried to establish a government. Spending BILLIONs of American dollars to bring Democracy to the middle east.
No, had he done that, he would have been branded a blood thirsty oil addict.
You cannot possibly be that naive after all the effort I've invested informing you of facts about the world. Do me a favor and read this interview with Chomsky. I know our "dear leader" says he wants to bring democracy to Iraq. Should we believe that this is the purpose?
Just the first half of my link relates to democracy in Iraq BTW, but it's all good.
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