What makes this different from many of the other revolts in the Middle East is that this one is not an Islamic revolt, but one carried on by laborers, students, and everyday people. There are 2 aspects to this particular uprising:
It is because Tunisia is a highly educated country compared to the rest of the Arabic middle east and North Africa. People are not brainwashed by religious dogma but actually have gotten an education so they can make their own choices. But as always, you have to be very careful because there is a power vacuum at the moment, and if the Islamists can fill that power vacuum, then well.
1) It is spreading to other Middle East nations.
There is revolution brewing in Egypt, where people are now setting themselves on fire, and others are calling for armed insurrection. There is also unrest showing up in Jordan, Algeria, and other nations in the area.
And this is highly dangerous. If there is a revolution in Egypt, the chances that the mullahs take over is quite considerable. Egypt has a huge uneducated mass that are a ripe breeding ground for the radical mullahs. It is here the Muslim Brotherhood (and indirectly Bin Laden) were spawned. I would rather have the status quo and forcing them to deal with their problems than having a revolution.
Algeria also has a rising radical element, but here unlike Egypt, the French influence of more western style thinking and a higher education than Egypt, might just save the country from the mullahs. But saying that, Al Q are doing their best to spur revolution there.
Jordan is a special case. Jordan has a huge Palestinian population, who are not really radical, and only have one thing on their minds... getting back their land. The only thing that is keeping these people for siezing power and declaring war against Israel, is the sitting Royals.. Plus Jordan is a democratic country relatively speaking.
2) These particular insurrections are ones in which the United States should watch closely, and if successful, extend a hand to the victors. In fact, that is something that we must do, lest these victories, if they occur, are hijacked by crazy Mullahs. Although it is not likely this would happen, we have seen it happen before, and you can count on the Mullahs to at least try.
Depends on the victor. If the islamists win, then that US hand will be cut off before it even gets near them. Most of these countries have for years gotten billions of aid from the US, and the people know this. The US has been propping up the dictators for decades. Egypt for example is the single biggest military aid recipient in the area, even more than Israel. And then there is the usual Israeli problem, something any revolutionary force will exploit to gain more power. Israel should be very very very worried about a revolution in Egypt or Jordan...
So, in the end, what this boils down to is an issue of freedom, which should strike a chord in all Americans. After all, once upon a time, we did the same.
Sorry but that is a bit arrogant and naive. In the end it will boil down to which country will fall in the radical Islamists side and which will not.. most will fall in the radical Islamists simply because the US has been backing the sitting governments for decades.
It is another Iraq in many ways... better the devil you know than the devil you dont. We had a stable Iraq under Saddam that was a stop gap against Iranian expansion.. after Saddam we have a very unstable Iraq, that is in defacto civil war and an Iran that has expanded its influence the furthest for over 500 years. Removing Saddam was a gift to the radical movement in the area, and was a huge mistake on that front... at least in the short and medium term.
A toast to the successful coup in Tunisia, and may there be more toasts to come in the future.
Article is here.
I hope Tunisia ends well, but I fear for the future. It is bad enough to have Iran and Iraq being terrorists hotbeds, but having the whole middle east open to terrorists... god help us all.
rof Tunisia is in North Africa, not the Middle East. (it even says that in your article:2razz