Democracy is a messy beast, especially if it isn’t reliability “pro-US”. Hence, the last decades have seen very close relationships between Washington and a host of brutal dictatorships. Cairo is no different. No wonder America is worried that a “reliable” state – read pro-torture and pro-Israel – is teetering: The officer corps of Egypt’s powerful…
Showing all posts tagged Barack Obama
This is how the White House “manages” its empire
Such details merely confirm why America’s decrepit empire is in need of serious break-down: After much discussion, it was decided that President Obama would not try to speak directly to Mubarak. According to an informed source, the assessment was that president-to-president intervention should be held in reserve as a last recourse. Besides, any exchange with…
Wikileaks shows that Egypt/US cuddling achieved little positive
Wikileaks cables released this week show the real relationship between Washington and Cairo, a toxic brew of money, slight pressure, fear of Islamism and reliability. Who needed whom more? US diplomats and their masters never imagined a different Egypt because they never wanted it to happen. It suited America just fine. The real rights of…
Don’t forget every “expert” who embraced Mubarak and his kind
The embedded journalists, writers, commentators and think-tankers who spend their hours urging “moderate” regimes in the Middle East – namely Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and others – never cared too much about the democratic aspirations of the Arab people themselves. Too messy, too inconvenient. And as long as Israel was happy, well, Washington (and…
The picture that shows why Obama has no idea about the Middle East
Taken yesterday, 28 January, in the White House. A bunch of white men who I’m sure have a wonderful idea about what the Arab people really want:
People of Gaza and Egypt need freedom from our thug
Burn, baby, burn. Israel and America are scurrying for some kind of response to the Egyptian uprising. The poor lambs. What on earth will they do if a compliant dictatorship actually falls? For example, the siege on Gaza may well be about to change. I hope. And so do the people of Gaza. They deserve…
What Egyptian uprising says about the desperate desire for freedom
The Arab world is shaking. Crowds are seething. Anger is everywhere. Egyptian protesters are showing America, Israel and Mubarak what they think of them. Some of the latest reports here and here. From Al-Jazeera: The internet has been central to these protests, though impossible to tell how important. In an age of mass surveillance, it’s…
New York Times pledges to be on right side in “clash of values”
How very revealing. Here’s New York Times editor Bill Keller in a long essay for a forthcoming Times book, “Open Secrets: WikiLeaks, War and American Diplomacy: Complete and Expanded Coverage from The New York Times“, talking about his paper’s view on Wikileaks. Apart from the almost obligatory slamming of founder Julian Assange, Keller explains the…
Just which part of the Jewish state is democratic for all?
You can smell the fear in this Haartez editorial. Israel is a democratic state that should be saved? Who thinks this? Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza? While the negotiations over the final-status arrangement between Israel and the Palestinians have fallen into lethargy, Israel’s international status is steadfastly sinking. The process…