Middle East

[randolph]

Originally Posted by shehim

i bilieve that the usa and Europe should stop this hypocrasy when dealing with the arabic east dectatorship and tyrany regiems in one hand they talk day and nigfht about human rights and wemen rights and all thies beautifull princiblies but in the other hand they support with all the power they have experied dectators belonging to the middle ages ,like qaddafi and all those kings and princes in the gulf,we should see things not just from our intrests or from the eyes of israel but also from the real human rights bases

There is an old saying "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". That is our foreign policy in a nutshell.

[TracyCoxx]

Originally Posted by randolph

There is an old saying "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". That is our foreign policy in a nutshell.

True randolf. What is Obama's foreign policy though? I'm not being a smartass, I really can't tell.

[randolph]

Originally Posted by TracyCoxx

True randolf. What is Obama's foreign policy though? I'm not being a smartass, I really can't tell.

Hey Tracy I'm back! Thanks for the complement.

I can't tell either. Hillary and Obama are being extremely wishywashy regarding this Egyptian uprising. It must be incredibly embarassing to preach Democracy and then waffle when the people demand it.
Osam bin laden (if he is still alive) must be delighted. However, I think there is a good chance that Egypt can become an open Democratic society and resist Islamic fundamentalism. The behavior of most of the protesters suggest that.

[Be_my_nude]

The state of affairs which has occurred again and again over the years was succinctly summarised by shehim in the following post :

http://forum.transladyboy.com/showpo...1&postcount=34

As has already been observed, the hiatus which follows either war or revolution invariably leads to a crisis or a succession of crises exploitable by any sufficiently ruthless extremist group to install their own ideological dictator or oligarchy. This was starkly the the case following the Allied occupation and redefinition of Palestine in the aftermath of the Second World War. Sadly there was no available Arabic representation in reaching the ' refoundation ' of a Jewish State in the Middle East, a decision designed to relieve the acute European refugee problem while at the same time inserting a pro-West long-term power base in the area.

It seems that the growth of extreme ' Islamism ' increase exponentially from that point.

Now I am no Historian, but I suspect that Arabs are a lot more capable of handling their own affairs and interstate relationships than many politicians in the West would have us believe.

The only way to find out is to ' suck it and see ' and assist Arab states in developing economies other than Oil, while keeping a neutral posture over the existence of Israel.

This will require really true Statesmanship from all concerned.

[smc]

I fear what will happen next in Cairo. Regardless of which side you may "support," bloodshed seems likely. Mubarak did not resign, but instead transferred authority to his hand-picked vice president. Mubarak vowed to stay in Egypt and be buried in Egypt. Despite that the Army earlier told demonstrators that all their aspirations and demands would be met, the Army has also blockaded the presidential palace. There is talk of a "military coup" if the protests don't end. Meanwhile, the bus drivers have just gone on strike -- probably the precursor to a general strike that will bring what little economic activity remaining in the country to a halt.

Is the shooting of demonstrators next? Last week, Mubarak unleashed thugs on the protestors, who had been peaceful. It was clearly designed to provoke a violent response so that he could say that he was staying to maintain stability and avoid chaos. And that's what he did. But now, the stakes have grown higher.

The situation overnight will be tense, to say the least.

[randolph]

The 15% raise did not dissuade government employees from joining the uprising. I think Mubarak is trying to precipitate violence to force the army to move to suppress it as a way of staying in power. Hopefully, the army will force Mubarak out.

[ila]

The arrogance of the US president is absolutely galling to me. How dare he tell Mubarak to step down. How would Obama like it if a politician from another country phoned him and told him to step down?

(And yes, I know Mubarak has already stepped down.)