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Middle East Mêlée
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Why We Should Expect Another 9/11
Article #29 –
Middle East Melee
By
Chris Cobar
This article is being posted now, because of its timeliness. Normally, this would appear a few months from now. (I apologize for the change in the order of articles.) However, time is of the essence.
Considering recent events, it is safe to conclude that Arab Africa and the Middle East are going up for grabs. The $64,000 question is who’s going to grab it?!
Referencing Article #27, this is the time for American foreign policy and our State Department to get it right. We cannot afford any mistakes.
Until recently, there were only 3 official ‘rogue states’ on record: North Korea, Iran and Sudan. The Sudan has been settled. South Sudan goes independent this summer with the absolute approval of the international community. No more Dafurs.
We now have the best opportunity in decades to support freedom fighters, i.e. moderate Muslims who want [and deserve] more self-rule. This is a chance which we cannot afford to miss. Iraq has not smothered us in success and who can say definitively about Afghanistan.
Let’s take a look at the current scoreboard (subject to change without notice):
Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Iran have all experienced protests to lesser or greater degrees. Even China has clamped down on their ‘Jasmine Revolution.’
The repressive regimes in Tunisia and Egypt have already fallen. Dedicated dictators for decades have bought their lunch and had to hit the bricks. Gahdafi is currently causing a civil war and bombing his fellow countrymen in his misguided efforts to remain in power. Apparently, he hasn’t got the memo. Hate to see how it’s going to be delivered. It will be bloody, or perhaps I should say bloodier.
The ‘memo’ is pretty clear cut. The days of Divine rights of Kings are over. Nobody is anointing anybody anymore. England settled it by beheading their king. France wiped out the majority of their nobility along with their ‘divine rulers.’ They too went out headless. It does and will happen; the only question is how, the nice way or the other way.
The era of absolute monarchs (this includes all the dedicated dictators who think that they have ‘divine rights’) is over. The world has become too small. You can no longer keep your people barefoot, pregnant and down on the farm. The Internet has fixed all that. Information flows too freely to stop it. Even the malignant Mullahs in Iran are having problems. If you can’t shoot down all the satellites, you can’t stop it. The word will get out, whether you like it or not. The greater the repression, the greater the reaction. Only the timing is in question.
Women are still not allowed to drive cars in Saudi Arabia, let alone vote. At last count, there were approximately 55,000+ members of the Saudi royal family, all on the government payroll. I don’t know if they have enough oil to cover that expenditure. With the current unrest in Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, I would not like to be the one sitting on the throne in Riyadh right now. Probably, I would not be getting much sleep.
The number one opposition group to Mubarak in Egypt has been and is the Society for Muslim Brothers. They have been around since the late 1920s. From time to time, they have used violence to achieve their goals. Do we really want them ruling in Cairo? Or Damascus? Or wherever else? They have branches most everywhere in the Middle East and Arab Africa. They teach the illiterate, set up hospitals and clinics. Not an easy act to follow.
On 12 March 2011, the Arab League formally requested the United Nations to impose a no-fly zone over Libya. It is seldom that the League either moves this quickly or this decisively. We are the closest we will ever be to receiving a “papal blessing” from the Middle East. There will be no engraved invitations. This is it: take it or leave it.
Hello, Bureaucratic Beltway boys, this is NOT the time to hem and haw or dicker and debate. A known dictator of 42 years is practicing genocide on his people. We’re not talking rocket science here. It’s very simple. Libya has lots of sand. You draw a line in it and then inform Gahdafi that if his troops, whether by warplane, warship or tank cross it, hurt will happen. Level the playing field; then let the Libyan people sort it out for themselves.
It’s time for America to get off the bench and belly up to the bar. To date, we have encountered 3 ‘rogue’ states of record. We have not smothered ourselves in success in dealing with them. If we don’t get it right this time, we could end up with ten more. If we can’t handle 3, how do we expect to handle 13?
We have a golden opportunity to righteously support democracy in the Middle East. We need to do it and we need to do it NOW!
CC
Thanks for your comments, please keep them coming –
Chris Cobar: rajamuda001@aol.com
Please visit my new blog, www.terrorlog.com
P.S. For those of you who want more than a snappy synopsis of the whys and wherefores of 9/11, I refer you to www.intelwire.com. It is managed by a good friend, John Berger. He is a certified terrorist consultant, who documents his colons and commas. If it's there, you can take it to the bank.
