(Can you guess which police state is depicted at right?)
This development clarifies the need to enforce the Friday deadline for Mubarak's departure from Egypt. If President Mubarak doesn't leave by Friday, it will become reasonable for Egyptians to conclude his dictatorship by death.
For anyone whose analysis of the Egyptian revolt is complicated by thoughts of the Suez Canal, Israel, inexpensive oil, religious preference, or ostensible regional stability: If any of those points genuinely relies on the brutal, decades-long oppression of 80 million people, it isn't worth the cost.
The Egyptian protesters have displayed unearned respect and fondness for the United States while attempting to depose the tyrant Americans enabled to oppress them. The Egyptian military has demonstrated remarkable integrity and courage by refraining from attacking the Egyptian people. It is time for the American government to repay those courtesies by refraining from offering Mr. Mubarak any assistance other than prompt passage to asylum.
8 comments:
You can glibly declare that the attending factors don't matter, but really, they do. Like it or not, the very existence of Israel has depended on exactly the same sort of oppression. You can declare that this is too much to bear, but folks in Israel are not going to agree with you. Last I checked, the US is continuing to support Israel.
Even if you prefer focusing only on today's problem...what assurances do you have for us that what replaces Mubarak will be acceptable? Once Mubarak swings from the parapet you're constructing, after a judgment of that sort stands, what real hope is there of liberal leadership in Egypt? The most likely outcome will be radical Islam and Sharia law. Women in Egypt will pay the price, and a far more brutal, repressive and unstable regime will control the Middle East's most populous nation.
If a country's preferred form of existence depends on oppression of others, it deserves the fate of the British Empire. Find a different way to succeed, or find a nice corner of the dust bin. Sooner, ideally, than later.
The description of an "authoritarian tyrant or Muslim Caliphate" choice resembles the positions of Frank Gaffney. Mr. Gaffney is an immoral jackass who rides on retreads of the arguments that were used to arrange trade of arms for hostages, to justify the slaughter of nuns and union organizers for banana and oil companies, made by the folks who cut and ran after the Beirut bombing, attacked the wrong country after 9/11, fellated the Saudis for decades, armed Saddam Hussein, overthrew democratically elected leaders to pave the way for depraved dictators, and loved the Shah of Iran.
The Egyptians seem to want to change course. Let's give freedom and democracy a chance. If things worsen in Egypt, we will have only ourselves to blame. If the situation improves, perhaps we can begin to abandon our shameful record of appeasing murderous right-wing dictators for shabby reasons with counterproductive effect.
"Like it or not, the very existence of Israel has depended on exactly the same sort of oppression."
Right, and if that were actually true, it wouldn't be worth it.
And it's not as though there's been any evidence that Egyptians have an appetite for or an inclination towards radical Islam and Sharia law. As best I can tell they're into jobs and bread.
Infi, I generally disagree with your blog, but you are spot on here. I love how people that call for freedom and democracy are so quick to dismiss it somewhere else. They justify their oppressive behavior by saying "we don't know what will replace Mubarak." Huh? Someone help me. Mubarak is a brutal ant-democracy dictator. Somehow we are to believe it is right to deny people democracy because we aren't positive what kind of democracy will replace the dictatorship? Yep, and then these same people scratch their heads as to why the regular Arab folk don't like America.
That is difficult to believe.
Which parts of Infinonymity spark disagreement?
Regular Arab folk don't like America because America supports Israel.
Should Americans support or excuse repressive regimes in Egypt, Israel, and so on? Of course not...it's high time we stopped. There is a troubling refusal in America to understand the Israel situation and how outrageous that is to all Arab onlookers. The only things that make Israel's status tenable are direct American aid and their nukes (covert American aid). While we continue to support that, we will also find it necessary to support dictators that will hold the will of the people at bay. In so many words, you cannot support democracy in the Middle East without supporting reform and change in Israel.
Here's a video of veteran Egyptian feminist Nawal El-Saadawi: "I'm 80 years, but I'm ready to fight!" She was jailed under Sadat, threatened by Islamists and exiled by the Mubarak regime for years; now she's with the masses in Liberation Square, and refused to leave even during the assault by the undercover cops and the bribed lumpen.
But hey, anonymous white US Americans must know Egypt better than her, right? She must be fighting for a "likely outcome" of "radical Islam and Sharia law." White Americans know so much more about what Egyptian women need, and always have the interests of those women at heart.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Seriously, I am getting a kick out of all of this. It is utterly delightful to see the Tunisian imperialist puppet in flight, and now the second-most-important imperialist puppet in the Middle East likely ready to fall. The worried hand-wringing of Netanyahu and the Israeli "security" establishment is especially gratifying, as is the confusion of the regime's backers in the United States. They clearly don't know what they're doing, and it's delightful to watch.
We need two, three, many Tunisias. May all the dominoes fall! "There is chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."
Speaking of chaos under heaven... excellent F.D. !
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