There are many reasons why the United States protects its dictator friends in the Middle East and ventures out of its way to make sure they stay in power. The biggest fear of the West is an uprising against dictators and elites that are western placeholders in the Middle East. The people’s revolutions in Palestine, Libya, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, if successful, will forever alter the status quo that has limited Arab nations in reaching their true potential to attain success. Western intervention in these legitimate revolutions is never humanitarian as claimed by the UN and its most powerful members, but rather are tools to prevent true freedom and justice in the regions.
Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria have all recently witnessed the expected and long-in-processing rise of the people against oppressive and unjust governments. Governments which, by the way, were strong allies of the United States. So what is the world’s biggest supporter of 70 and 80 year old Arab dictators who have been in power for decades in order to secure U.S interests to do now? Debase and remove the true impact of the revolutions, of course. History tends to repeat itself fairly often with the United States and its pursuit to hijack democratic uprisings in the Middle East and other parts of the world. The country continues to display duality in responding to the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa:
If the US Appointed or Likes the Dictator…
Bahrain: Scores of civilians are being killed by Bahraini government forces and that of other Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia invades Bahrain and begins attacking even hospitals and civilian areas, in complete violation of the Geneva Convention. The US response: Not a single word, condemnation or attempt to diffuse the situation. On the flipside, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, the White House states Saudi tanks and heavily armed soldiers entering and attacking the citizens of another nation is not an “invasion.”
Yemen: 32 years. That’s how long Ali Abdullah Saleh has been president of Yemen. After all, which democracy doesn’t elect the same president for more than 3 decades? Yemeni forces continue to massacre protestors by the hundreds and the government has suspended the effectiveness of the constitution, implementing instead rigid emergency laws in an effort to curb the protests which have been gradually building for several years. Saudi Arabia has also in the past – and will potentially in the future – enter Yemen to suppress any uprisings in fear that they may encourage its own people to fight for a real, legitimate government rather than being ruled by the current US-Israel placeholders spread across the Middle East. The US Response: A call for “maximal restraint” on the part of the Yemeni government. Ironic, considering the US sells billions of dollars worth of weapons to Yemen so that it can suppress such uprisings.
If the Revolution is Bad for Oil Corporations…
Libya: Why is the United States and its NATO allies intervening in Libya and not in the Congo where millions have been killed by the genocide? Ask BP. The United States has tolerated Libyan president Gadhaffi for several decades, despite bombing the country in 1986. When the recent revolt began to spread in the country, the government responded by attacking the protestors. Initially, the United States responded with calls for restraint and dialogue. This tune changed when the United Nations, which has been reduced to a waste of office space in New York, decided to vote on and implement a “no-fly zone” in Libya – very helpful for the Libyan people considering the government also has forces on the ground attacking civilians. Is it then a coincidence that Libya has the largest proven oil reserves on the African continent and billions of dollars in agreements with BP? The launch of airstrikes by the coalition of “concerned” western countries, including the United States and France, has only added to the civilian death toll.
The US involvement in Libya is quickly eroding the legitimacy of the people’s uprising against an unjust government and taking away from their ability to own their revolution. It is also important to realize that the United States and its allies will attempt to control the future leadership of the country, as it has done so for years, in order to preserve the strategic and financial significance of the country.
If the Revolution is Bad for Zionism…
Egypt: Few dictators are as loyal as former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was to the United States and Israel. He has even helped Israel commit additional war crimes against the people of Palestine and blocked off the entrance to Egypt from Gaza so that the Palestinians are left to slowly and painfully suffer. Forty years of service to the colonialist and corporate interests has earned Mubarak enough status with the US that they forgot to mention he has turned Egypt into a large prison, torturing anyone who merely looked like they might utter the words “freedom”, “democracy”, “jobs”, “money” or “equal distribution of wealth.”
For years, the people of Egypt have attempted to change the state of their government yet have been suppressed violently. When the most recent wave of protests hit, few expected it to lead to Mubarak’s removal. Considering the strategic location and billions of US dollars invested in Egypt in addition to the loss of Israel’s biggest doormat should Mubarak exit the picture, the United States intervened. By all measurements, Mubarak’s resignation was not due to the return of decency and morality to a sell-out who has destroyed his nation for Western interests, but a forced exit by the United States. The Egyptian Army did not back Mubarak for fear it would end up on the losing side of the revolution.
Egypt’s new “interim” leadership is headed by military generals who backed and supported the regime of Mubarak. If you’re thinking not much has actually changed, you’re right. The new Egyptian government has just approved a law that criminalizes strikes and protest marches in the country. Activists who led the revolution have also been arrested by the army commanders in Egypt.
Suffocating the Revolution
The United States and its allies continue a long standing tradition of destroying any legitimate revolution in the Middle East. What is the point of Western intervention in the Arab and Muslim world other than to quell any awakening that may be Arab nationalistic in nature, or, even more frightening to the west: an Islamic Awakening? Either of these movements would free the nations of the Middle East and North Africa from imperialistic influence.
There are many reasons why the United States protects its dictator friends in the Middle East and ventures out of its way to make sure they stay in power. The biggest fear of the West is an uprising against dictators and elites that are western placeholders in the Middle East. The people’s revolutions in Palestine, Libya, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, if successful, will forever alter the status quo that has limited Arab nations in reaching their true potential to attain success. Western intervention in these legitimate revolutions is never humanitarian as claimed by the UN and its most powerful members, but rather are tools to prevent true freedom and justice in the regions.
