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| Africa North |
| Uh-Oh! Egyptian Revolutionaries Ungrateful to Obama Administration |
| 2011-03-15 |
| As I've said before, the problem we have with Muslim countries springs from the masses, not the leadership. Rubin thinks this is because they are fed propaganda by the government. I think they've been fed propaganda from the Quran over the last 13 centuries, by their blood ancestors from one generation to the next. Muslims don't say "Sultan Akbar" or "Colonel Akbar" - they say "Allah Akbar". Any leader who deviates from their beliefs as regards the infidel risks assassination or violent revolt. Neo-con commentators like to say that Muslims hate us because their governments use the anti-Western propaganda to divert them from their problems. In reality, Mubarak has had 10 assassination attempts by Islamists mounted against him despite this so-called diversionary propaganda. A less hopeful interpretation would be that he parroted some of their anti-Western shibboleths to ward off even more assassination attempts - meaning that our enemy is the Egyptian people, not their leaders. Read the rest at the link... Whoâd possibly have thought it? Answer: Anybody who understands the Middle East. You see, the Obama Administration rushed to get rid of the Mubarak government in the belief that this action would make Egyptians see that they are simply wonderful people. This would assure that Egypt and America remained good buddies forever. Unfortunately, though, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Cairo and they werenât delighted to see her. In fact, those hip, Facebook-using youth that the Obama Administration kept extolling refused to see her at all! Hereâs what Google executive plus youth revolution leader Wael Ghonim tweeted: âDear Hillary Clinton, thanks to the Internet, we can search for anyone's quotes within any period of time. Did you ever try this?â Get it? We looked up all the nice things you said about President Husni Mubarak. We donât like you. And no matter what you do, since you canât change that history, we still wonât like you. Of course, this gives the mass media a way out since it can claim that the problem is--once again!--past American sins rather than contemporary Arab radicalism and the popularity to be derived from demagoguery. Anti-Americanism is going to explode now in Egypt, in all of its leftist, Islamist, and nationalist varieties. Candidates will compete to prove they aren't friendly to America. Egypt won't do anything the United States asks for. |
| Posted by:Zhang Fei |
| #8 This is where that oderint dum metuant thingy should cut through a lot of issues. But Barry hasn't mastered the metuant part. |
| Posted by: Matt 2011-03-15 23:19 |
| #7 The silver lining here is that we can easily save $1.5 billion in foreign aid/year... and these new guys will never miss it! Care to lay odds on that? Replace the word "trusted" with the word "liked", and I'd agree with you 100%. I'll agree with you on "liked", but no, it's 'trust'. They were there for us when they needed us, though. True. But I can name a few other nations that neither "like" or "trust" the US, but cooperate for reasons of practicality. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-03-15 22:47 |
| #6 They never trusted the US in the first place. Replace the word "trusted" with the word "liked", and I'd agree with you 100%. They were there for us when they needed us, though. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2011-03-15 22:02 |
| #5 The silver lining here is that we can easily save $1.5 billion in foreign aid/year ... and more importantly Barry has improved his golf game. |
| Posted by: CincinnatusChili 2011-03-15 21:46 |
| #4 The silver lining here is that we can easily save $1.5 billion in foreign aid/year... and these new guys will never miss it! |
| Posted by: Leigh 2011-03-15 21:36 |
| #3 The Obama administration lost twice. They didn't win over the the revolutionaries by dumping Mubarak. They never trusted the US in the first place. They lost the Arab leaders by dumping Mubarak. They won't trust the US again for a long time. That's also why the Saudis are in Bahrain. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-03-15 21:31 |
| #2 More from Rubin on amnesia and the Arab reformer: What? Don't they thank President Barack Obama for pushing Mubarak out, all of his efforts to show Muslims and Arabs how much he loves them, or the Cairo speech where he extolled Islam? Not at all! They don't even remember last month when Obama told Mubarak leave power and his spokesman said that he should have left "yesterday." Here's what the youth movement coalition said: "The US administration took Egyptâs revolution lightly and supported the old regime while Egyptian blood was being spilled.â Lesson One: Just because you like them, that doesn't mean they like you. Lesson Two: Just because you help them doesn't mean they will help you. Lesson Three: Just because you pretend that they are really moderates doesn't mean it's true. Let me put it in young, hip terms: If America applied to join their Facebook page, they'd click the "block" and "report as abusive" buttons. In other words, they remember what they want to remember in the way they want to remember it. America's assigned roles are, simultaneously, overpowerful bully to be hated and defeated weakling to be beaten up. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2011-03-15 19:07 |
| #1 Of course, this gives the mass media a way out since it can claim that the problem is--once again!--past American sins rather than contemporary Arab radicalism and the popularity to be derived from demagoguery. Note that demagoguery only works if it is consistent with your existing prejudices. Muslims don't need propaganda from the leadership to hate the infidel - it's been fed along with mother's milk to them since Muhammad gave conquered tribes the choice of conversion or death. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2011-03-15 18:59 |