I love the fact that Ed Stein includes insightful commentary about his political cartoons on his blog. Here’s his comentary for this cartoon:
It will be interesting, to say the least, to see how far the spontaneous popular revolution in Tunisia will spread through the Arab world. Will it stop in Egypt, or will the assorted monarchies and dictatorships that dominate the Arabian peninsula and other Muslim countries, fall like dominoes? Of equal interest is what will replace the current governments if they do fall. As we saw in Iran, there is no guarantee that a popular revolt against authoritarian regimes will result in democracies. The beards may not be in the streets, but the Taliban, the Muslim Brotherhood and their ilk are waiting in the wings.
Will whatever replaces Mubarak honor its treaty with Israel? Will the regimes we have allied ourselves with continue to help stabilize the region, or are we witnessing a regional breakdown of our influence, as well? Stay tuned. To Al Jazeera.
9 Comments
As Rachel Maddow has pointed out (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#41361217), the US corporatocracy cares about Egypt because of the Suez Canal.
No one gives a damn about Tunisia. The same may apply to Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. But the corporatocracy definitely cares about Saudi Arabia (oil) and Yemen, UAE, and Oman (in a position to threaten oil shipping through the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea).
HRH – It appears that way, but our gov is only interested in things that could affect US interests. The Egypt issue definately fits the bill. However this should also raise higher eyebrows because there will soon be a ring of agression surrounding Israel if both Egypt and Jordan go the way of Syria and Lebanon. Both of the later are in league with Iran. Iran is shite and Egypt is currently sunni and despised by Iran. I’d bet my last dollar that El Baradei is an Iranian puppet and the muslim brotherhood funded by Iran will come to power. The moderate Arab nations fear them and Iran. If we want real kaos wait until we loose 50% of our oil. Then we’ll have to drill in every square inch of US soil and water to relace it. If you want to see a real economic depression that make the 30’s look like a recession hiccup then hope we don’t protect our interests. Also, don’t doubt that Iran has nukes and if they align with Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Venezuela then prepare for the last war.
I know this sounds like fear mongering on a grand scale, but the no nothings like Maddow really have no genuine clue. The mideast situation is serious and is not just a case of corporate greed and the rich keeping the man down.
FYI – no one gave a damn about Cambodia, Rowanda, Sudan or Somalia for that matter. It is a shame, but if we intervened people would say it just another costly war we shouldn’t be involved in (they can’t have it both ways).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpgJzlY9y8A
truth in humor.
I was going to ad about Rwanda and Sudan. But fortuantely we have gotten very involved in protecting the Sudan which because of the White Nile has a beautiful history up until the Muslims tried to take over the country “Lost boys of Sudan” Wonderful Youtube put out by the White House today, sounds sort of like “What have you done for us lately” by the US but we are involved in the south where the Nile first flows.
http://www.youtube.com/whitehouse#p/u/1/0yKvPsqOtT0
Egyptian military is going to take control of the elections in september and they will ensure an american backed candidate wins.
NO U, thats part of the long term problem. We have propped up many of these dictators in the mid east because they provided stability to the area. We allowed there hard fisted rule because we falsly assumed it would keep the extremists from gaining power. Problem is it has now pushed the avg citizen to compare extremist types to the hard fisted rulers and making a choice for the former. So the exact thing we were trying to avoid could potentially happen. We’ll have to wait and see.
Perhaps what we should have done starting 30 years ago was snub the dictators in support of democracy where the people actually had a voice.
Laurie – that video is right on. We shhot ourselves in the foot so many times, but never seem to learn our lesson.
Anonymous – thanks for the video link. Ou mainstram media often misses non catostophic events or good/hopeful news.
PSGT, I am guessing that most of the West (including you and myself) are uneducated concerning the Muslim Brotherhood. From what I read (not knowing if it is true), they are very religious but also very moderate, no better or worse than the religious right in the US. Not every Muslim governement will make an enemy of the US. Also, as IK and others pointed out, the recent uprising have virtually no backlash aginst the West in them (burning US flags, etc.). Also, unlike the recent case in Iran, no one is claiming that the West is behind these uprisings.
Also, concerning oil, the bigger problem is Peak Oil, not who controls it. If Middle East countries shut off oil to everyone, then they lose money. If they shut it off to just the West, then others will fill that spot. They can direct where THEIR oil goes, not where ALL oil goes – and money talks. Oil prices will be higher, but again we have bigger economic problems in the US that were never really solved…
BTN – here are some links on the MB, they have evolved into a parent organization for smaller groups like HAMAS. This is there guiding mantra if you will:
“Allah is our goal; the Messenger is our model; the Koran is our constitution; jihad is our means; and martyrdom in the way of Allah is our aspiration.”
On the oil does anyone remember the embargo that helped effectively end Carter’s political career? What would happen in our current infant recovery if gas rose to 5-7 dollars a gallon?
http://www.adl.org/terrorism/symbols/muslim_brotherhood_1.asp
http://educateusa.com/MuslimBrotherhood.html
http://www.allthingsbeautiful.com/all_things_beautiful/2006/03/the_muslim_brot.html
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/mb.htm
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2010/September/Stakelbeck-on-Terror—The-Muslim-Brotherhood-in-America/
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1974810/posts