Egypt: An Inspiration for my Generation

As the Egyptian revolution enters its 17^th day, I'd like to take a moment and reflect on how big of a deal this will be to my generation. So far, this is the most inspirational global event that I have been around to experience. Although I struggle with the double edged sword of modern technology and getting lost in social networks, I see the internet here as absolutely good. It's well documented that the scope of this revolution has its roots in the internet. Many following the events may be familiar with the name Asmaa Mahfouz. On January 18^th she posted a video that inspired many young Egyptians to come out on the 25^th: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgjIgMdsEuk

Yet, Asmaa Mahfouz was not the sole source of the inspiration. In fact these protests were being organized for over a year on the internet, which was the safest place to conduct any ani-government plans in the Mubarak police state. Yes, this was in large part organized by the youth, but if you look at videos from the ground at Tahrir Square you see people of all ages, men, women, labor movements, Muslims and Christians united. Even today over 1,000 lawyers and doctors came out in support of the strikes and protests. (http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/10/headlines#1) It is not just a bunch of angry young people who cannot find jobs. Many ignorant westerners are portraying this historic moment to be that way. Fortunately, they are wrong.

Mubarak's announcement that he will not resign, and the regime will be defiant against democracy seems to have ignited more anger among protests as well as more attention from the west. It seemed that the media was getting tired of this story as our oscillating government focused its attention on business interests in America. The Obama administration/Corporate owners of America need to face the fact that the Middle East is starting to embrace democracy and peacefully fight western dominance of their resources and propped up dictators. Main point here is that they are doing it in a rather sophisticated and peaceful fashion. This poses a threat to American power interests who use anti-American religious extremists as a convenient excuse to dominate middle eastern politics for our corporate and strategic purposes. But if the voice of Islamic extremism is drowned out by a more rational and inspirational youth movement, it will be increasingly more difficult for our government to justify our brutal foreign policies. That is why you see all of this talk of the Muslim Brotherhood, even though they are a small player in what is really happening in Egypt.

What I fear more than religious groups taking over Egypt (which I don't think will happen) is the prospect of the US installing another oppressive regime and ignoring the democratic energy that has fueled this unprecedented revolution. There is talk that Mubarak and Sueliman need to stay in power until September to keep the country stable. I don't understand that logic. First of all, how can we believe that these brutal torturers need to stay for stability, while they are the ones causing all of the violence and instability during these protests. Secondly, it is degrading to the people protesting who have kept Tahrir Square in good shape, cleaning up after Mubarak backed thugs tried to trash the place. It's insulting to the courageous people in Egypt, and it's insulting to the rest of our intelligence to claim that Egypt needs Mubarak's regime to stay a little while longer to maintain “stability.”

In Line with US Foreign Policy Joe Biden Says Mubarak is not a Dictator

Yesterday Joe Biden stated that he did not think that President Mubarak of Egypt was a dictator. He proceeded to explain how Mubarak has been a good ally to US interests in the region:

Look, Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things that he’s been very responsible on relative to geopolitical interests in the region, Middle East peace efforts, the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with Israel. And I think that it would be—I would not refer to him as a dictator.

Based on this, the Vice President's definition of a dictator is predicated on compliance with US interests. The US government backing true dictators that consent to helping US business and strategic concerns is not a new revelation. You can go back throughout US history to find this sort of thing. For instance, it is common knowledge by historians now that the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in Chile by Augusto Pinochet was backed and some even argue led by the US. Pinochet turned out to be a brutal dictator. Pinochet's government killed at least 3,197 people and tortured about 29,000. Two-thirds of the cases listed in the report happened in 1973. The list of support for dictatorships is long. Here is a website I found that posts a good portion of these dictators:

http://www.bluebloggin.com/2008/01/11/history-of-us-backed-dictators-redux/

Most infamous and infuriating of these in many people's minds is Saddam Hussein. Wikileaks cables that were released recently suggest that the US encouraged Saddam to invade Kuwait only to turn our back on the dictator using it as a catalyst to micromanage the region for the next 20 years. We see the results today.

Ron Paul actually had the courage to bring this up in congress this week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JANYT8FCik&feature=player_embedded

Although I disagree with Paul on most domestic issues, he is a champion of exposing US atrocities abroad. Representative Kucinich is more to my liking as an overall politician, and these are the two eccentric US politicians that come to mind. Now, Joe Biden may be notorious for saying stupid things, but what he said here is exactly in line with the US foreign policy stance for decades. Paul and Kucinic are marked as loonies or radicals for their dissidence. Meanwhile, the President has sidestepped his way with much prowess to encourage dissidence, but to not upset his ally Mubarak who also happens to be a brutal dictator that is being challenged by a wave of protests in Egypt. My hope is that Egypt and the other Middle East countries that are going through revolution right now do not get trapped by US style imperialism. That imperialism shows up as privitization of resources, backing dictators that systematically kill dissidents, and horrid sectionalism. That imperialism is what creates terrorists. Not religion. Not a hate for freedom. It is the western stranglehold on that region that has produced the terrorist ideology we see today. As long as a few people profit from this we cannot rely on our government to do anything to stop it.