Iam genuinely perprlexed about something. That something is what folks expect of the US when it comes to Egypt. Here is why I am confused:
1. Some people are complaining that we are not helping the Muslim Brotherhood to topple the Mubarek government that has been in power for 30 years. We are accused of supporting a dictator, instead of lending aid to a movement to build a more democratic government there. We are accused of valuing stability over progress. America needs to lend a hand to establishing democracy and nothing is being done here.
2. Other people complain that we try to be the policeman of the world. They say one of America's sins has been supporting movements in other nations that create instability there. Who are we to meddle in other nation's affairs? It is not our job to force democracy upon the people of the world, like we did in Iraq.
Loud voices in both of these camps can be found domestically, internationally, and interestingly, even in Egypt right now. These are polar opposite views of what our relationship should be with Egypt, and neither can be met except at the expense of the other.
Here is another question. Does anyone really know what all the sides in this protest are really about? Do you know if this rioting there is a movement for more democratic rule and a stronger republic there, or is it a movement for Sharia law and theocratic rule by those with unrelenting hate for the West?
One thing I have observed in the MSM that strikes me as very hypocritical: they seem to have more sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood than for the Tea Party. Their narrative of the Tea party has been one of violent opportunists and religious fanatacism, while the narrative of the Muslim Brotherhood has been one of glorious struggle for human rights. I have seen precious little, though some, on who the Muslim Brotherhood really are. (and who they really are is an enemy of the West)
Your thoughts please.
What's going on in Egypt (and in Tunisia) is a mass uprising of people who are finally fed up with the lousy corrupt governments of their long-time dictators and are demanding a complete change in government. The real question is what the nature of that change will be. The first step is overthrowing the long-term dictators and getting them out of the way so that change can come. The next step, which we aren't seeing yet in either country, is the struggle among various groups for political power. All of those groups, perhaps formerly political parties, have been oppressed and driven underground by the dictatorial regimes and many of their leaders were in exile.
ReplyDeleteIn both countries there are secular groups and Islamist groups and each of them want to take advantage of the power vacuum. In addition, there are army generals and others who may want to take over as well. Since the US government has strongly supported these dictators, particularly Mubarak, they are viewed with a lot of suspicion by most people in the streets. The last thing any potential civilian Egyptian political leader wants is to be associated with the US government. If the US is secretly backing anyone, I would assume it is former army and security service leaders who have close ties to the US military and CIA.
As for the Muslim Brotherhood, they are not a positive force in the region and in fact have been the source for a lot of the radical Islamic ideas that gave rise to terrorism. We can celebrate the courage of the Egyptian people to resist their oppressive dictator (didn't we want the Iraqis to do the same thing back in the '90's?) without supporting the Muslim Brotherhood or any other faction seeking power.
There is likely to be chaos for some time in both Tunisia and Egypt as a population that was prevented from exercising their democratic rights struggle to figure out how to run their countries and who to entrust with power. As Americans, our best approach is to sit quietly on the sidelines and wish them well.
Sometimes I feel that we, as individuals, and as a people can end up creating a situation where there is no win-win. There really is no win for the US in this case because there are two sides that have a valid position in part.
ReplyDeleteI think this is the same thing that has happened with National Health Care, or any other reform that has (on the surface) good intentions, but end up complicating or crushing any hope for a truly successful outcome.
The one clear thing that we as American's can look to in this case, is that the people of Egypt want change toward a more democratic form of government. We should support, in principle only, the efforts towards a more democratic government. The outcome of this whole power vacuum may not be that end, which is why it is best for the US to set a standard of principles that defend the ideals of democracy, but not take any further stand on the outcome. They are their own people and should be in a country where their destinies are not created or forced upon them.
We now have the Mubarak government sending its security forces into the streets in plain clothes as a "pro-Mubarak" mob, inciting violence, and making a bad situation worse. Those who gain power and money from the undemocratic status quo don't want their apple cart upset. They want the pro-democratic forces to "wait" until the September elections by which time the Mubarak regime will have time to get rid of the leaders and neutralize the movement.
ReplyDeleteThis is similar to what happend with National Health Care. While most Americans wanted a government-run system in the early days of the Obama administration, the White House with the support of those who make money off the illness of Americans, sabotaged the debate, sending in mobs opposed to decent health care for Americans and made it safe for the government to pass a worthless, even counterproductive health care bill.
Democracy is a messy process at best, but when those at the helm of a society invest their money and energy into subverting democracy for their own private interests, we end up with the kind of inequality that characterizes both Egypt and the United States.