Arab Spring
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 1:26 am
How can the general intelligent discusion forum have topics about fluoridation, trips to mars, inteligent life, chem trails etc. etc. and NOT about the talk of the planet this last month?
Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Libya, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Marocco.
Protests, calls for end of dictatorships, clashes... (confirmed) body count upto now consists of nearly 700 protestors & 2 regiemes.
Thougts? Comments? Hopes? Fears?
I find it rather sad how we (as in the west) have been exposed as hypocrtitical. Allways advocating democarcy and freedome yet supporting dozens of dictators in the region. Now when the people took to the streets and achieved in most cases all we can muster is "calls to restraint". I guess its something thoe, we started off with "that dictator is not a dictator and the people are not ready for a democracy" heh...
Only in the case of Iran has the response been nearly appropriate. Trouble is the next day protests started in Bahrain and Clinton immediatly went back to being tight lipped. Afterall, Bahrains particular dictatorship allows for the 5th fleet to be stationed in a strategicaly important location lol.
So friggin sad/funny to look at our governments. Surprised, clueless, with their policies exposed.
Now that all the "splender" of decades of dodgy politics is being thrust into the limelight, how should we (western public) feel about the situation? Should we not recognise that what we`ve been doing all these years was wrong? Feel uneasy at footage of clampdowsn on protesters using western made armaments and western training?
At the end of the day, is not the fact that we`ve supported and dealt with these autocratic regiemes arguably a giant generator of resentment that enables extremism to fourish (as it is the only "alternative" able to withstand the system) that infact breeds terorism we so fear?
Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Libya, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Marocco.
Protests, calls for end of dictatorships, clashes... (confirmed) body count upto now consists of nearly 700 protestors & 2 regiemes.
Thougts? Comments? Hopes? Fears?
I find it rather sad how we (as in the west) have been exposed as hypocrtitical. Allways advocating democarcy and freedome yet supporting dozens of dictators in the region. Now when the people took to the streets and achieved in most cases all we can muster is "calls to restraint". I guess its something thoe, we started off with "that dictator is not a dictator and the people are not ready for a democracy" heh...
Only in the case of Iran has the response been nearly appropriate. Trouble is the next day protests started in Bahrain and Clinton immediatly went back to being tight lipped. Afterall, Bahrains particular dictatorship allows for the 5th fleet to be stationed in a strategicaly important location lol.
So friggin sad/funny to look at our governments. Surprised, clueless, with their policies exposed.
Now that all the "splender" of decades of dodgy politics is being thrust into the limelight, how should we (western public) feel about the situation? Should we not recognise that what we`ve been doing all these years was wrong? Feel uneasy at footage of clampdowsn on protesters using western made armaments and western training?
At the end of the day, is not the fact that we`ve supported and dealt with these autocratic regiemes arguably a giant generator of resentment that enables extremism to fourish (as it is the only "alternative" able to withstand the system) that infact breeds terorism we so fear?