The left-of-center pundits are pandering to the ‘new’ Egypt that they assume is rising from the downfall ashes of the Hosni Mubarak regime. But their golly gee glee naively glosses over the harsh realities now facing Egypt and the Middle East.
Listen to the college kid silliness voiced by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in his article entitled Postcard from a Free Egypt. Friedman gurgles with girlish delight over what he terms the democratic victory staged in Tahrir Square. His postcard analysis of the complexities of the Middle East are the stuff of college freshman essays.
Egypt has always been the center of gravity of the Arab world and because it drifted these past 30 years, so too did the whole Arab world. One can only hope with this liberation that Egypt can now start to catch up with history and become a leading model for Arab development. If it does, others will follow. If it does, the Arab world will have two emotional hearts, not just one. New York Times
Now here’s a pragmatic point of view from Mark Steyn in his article entitled Unraveling of the American Middle East. Mark proclaims a real world pessimism that points out the obvious powder keg issues shaping the Middle East.
Iran is nuclearizing, Turkey is Islamizing, Egypt is …what exactly? Well, we’ll find out. But, given that only the army and/or the Muslim Brotherhood are sufficiently organized to govern the nation, the notion that we’re witnessing the youthful buds of any meaningful democracy is deluded. So who’ll come out on top? The generals or the Brothers?
You’ll notice that it’s only the pro-American dictatorships on the ropes…if you were either of the two King Abdullahs, in Jordan or Saudi Arabia, and you looked at the Obama Administration’s very public abandonment of their Cairo strongman, what would you conclude about the value of being an American ally? Steyn Online
I’m with Mark. Before we host a celebratory bash over the supposed arrival of democracy in Egypt, perhaps we should wait a bit to see who actually shows up for the party.
Sure…Iran in 1979, Shah gone, now those Western-educated National Front/secular/middle class Persians built a beautiful democracy…uhhh..SORRY…NOT!