Friday, February 11, 2011
Tahrir Square
For thirty years, Egypt posed no serious threat to The United States. That is the way of things & is how we fundamentally conduct our foreign affairs - for our own protection & advantage. Could we have leveraged our billions of dollars in military aid, & all the other money that landed in the bank accounts of an elite few, to better help the Egyptian people? Maybe, but we didn't try very hard. Fortunately, Egyptians respect their comfortable military establishment, which we did so much to sustain as a reward for not warring on Israel.
Now, the Egyptian people are having their way, at least for the time being. They have no experience with democracy, no organized political parties, & few leaders. Hosni Mubarak saw to that, brutally. He is gone because the courageous people convinced the army to withdraw support of his regime & risk something else, something that has not yet come to be & is not guaranteed. We have to hope that the Egyptian people don't let their loathing of Israel divert their pursuit of political & economic justice for themselves. They may well realize, if they keep their wits & we support their best efforts, how much good a free & economically strong Egypt will be able to accomplish.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
Now, the Egyptian people are having their way, at least for the time being. They have no experience with democracy, no organized political parties, & few leaders. Hosni Mubarak saw to that, brutally. He is gone because the courageous people convinced the army to withdraw support of his regime & risk something else, something that has not yet come to be & is not guaranteed. We have to hope that the Egyptian people don't let their loathing of Israel divert their pursuit of political & economic justice for themselves. They may well realize, if they keep their wits & we support their best efforts, how much good a free & economically strong Egypt will be able to accomplish.
Labels: in the news
