Boo Radley
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2009
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- Political Leaning
- Liberal
No...the region was not moving towards democracy. The region was stagnate and stale in its status quo while blaming America for their own culture's oppressions. There is no evidence of a movement towards democracy and simply stating it doesn't make it so. Low level democratic processes in Saudi Arabia began after Saddam Hussein was toppled and after their first elections due to population pressures in Saudi Arabia watching Iraqis vote. The pressure that came out of Iraq for the region's dictators was enormous. They began to crack down on their populations or they began to ease oppressions. However, after Iraqis voted in 2010 without international security and with success, a man in Tunisia set himself on fire and sparked the Arab Spring. Do you honestly think that Iraqi voters had nothing to do with this pressure?
By the way, Israel has Israel to show for it. Force is why Israel still exists. Theirs is a defense force. You seem to be convoluting the issues as if Israel has been trying to roll across the region. Put it into perspective.
History tells us many things. Unfortunately for the Middle East, their history has been written largely by Arab colonists and Europeans. Until their borders are re-drawn blood and slaughter will always be the theme whether they slaughter each other or send their children abroad to knock down New York buildings. So for those who try to use history to support minding our own business I offer up Al-Queda and hundreds of others that seek someone to blame. For those who use history to support thundering through the regions with weapons I offer up Iraq or Syria and the tribal freedom it releases. For those who actually understand this history, I offer up the lessons of Europe's World Wars, Yugoslavia and Sudan. Tribe matters and until we stop acting as if lines on a map are forever set in concrete we will continue to ignore history while using it to draw wrong conclusions.
Do you know why the tribes in Europe get along now? It's because their borders define them and going to war with another is an international act of war. The Middle East's tribal conflicts gets defined as something civil rather than what it is. Re-draw their lines and see how much less pressure these populations have.
Actually there were moves toward democracy in the region prior to invasion. Much was written on that at the time.
And, you are correct that prior imperialism efforts made a mess out of boarders. The thing that surprises me is that some thing all we need is more imperialism. This is for them to work out and not us. They don't need anymore imperialism.