History keeps repeating itself, and our *empire* refuses to learn from it. Why? Because empires feel they are ABOVE such things. We like to think we’re the great puppet masters, but ultimately our control in these matters is limited, in time and in scope. We propped up the Shah for decades, but we couldn’t stop the Iranian Revolution. Saddam was “our boy” for decades, and when we were done with him we tried to spur unrest/revolt, to have the Iraqi people ” take him out”. That didn’t quite work out so well. So, we finally did it ourselves. But, the people??? Last week, Zine in Tunisia. Now, (maybe) Mubarak in Egypt. How long before Yemen dumps Saleh? Can Morocco be far behind? The world is becoming a much smaller place all the time, and much less naive.
The actions of the U.S. simply do not match our words. Democracy? Human rights? How does Hu Jintao keep a straight face, when Obama brings these issues up? Our *foothold-friend*, who the U.N. established – at the U.S. and Britain’s direction – back in 1947, is losing its strategic value. Their human rights record is atrocious. Our original *nation building experiment* was, arguably, very successful. But, just look at the cost! The West Bank is now like the Warsaw ghetto, and the situation in Gaza is even worse. How many Trillions in aid have gone to the blue and white in the past 60 + years? And, I’m just talking about direct aid. How much has gone to the so-called “friendly” Arab states, to mollify them? We now have next to zero credibility in the Muslim World. And, for very good reason. In the long run, the crusades didn’t work during the middle ages, and – despite our pretty packaging – they are not working today.
I’m not sure of the etymology (I wouldn’t be surprised if it originated in the Middle East), but there is an old saying that goes: If you lie down with dogs, you will wake up with fleas. Looks like we’re going to be scratching for quite a while! There are plenty of others, too. We made our bed, now we have to sleep in it. And: The chickens are coming home to roost. We ignored all the warning signs – and believe me there have been plenty over the years – because *arrogance* does such things.
YUR
Related Articles
- Arab states: a quagmire of tyranny | Soumaya Ghannoushi (guardian.co.uk)
- “Tunisia – one or many?” and related posts (whirledview.typepad.com)
- “Yemen: Amid Large Protests, Will Saleh Go The Way of Ben Ali?” and related posts (pomed.org)
- -Middle East in Crisis: Yemen Joins Tunisia and Egypt (answersforthefaith.com)
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