Friday, February 18, 2011

Stealing Egypt's revolution

The people on the streets of Cairo got rid of their old enemy, Hosni Mubarak. Now they should be wary of new friends.

Western diplomacy - and dollars - have propped up regimes at odds with democracy, in the name of "stability", for decades. As dictators fall, citizens must be sure of whose advice they now listen to

How ironic! A regime that has been sustained since 1979 by US funds to the tune of $2billion annually - and functioned in the interest of Western governments - falls, and we see a sudden deluge of statements welcoming the long overdue change in the country, applauding the bravery of the Egyptian people and even demonising Hosni Mubarak.

One could be fooled into believing the transformation currently taking place in Egypt is one that has been fought for by Western governments for years already - a long-sought change finally materialising.

Who would say that successive US, British and European governments have long argued that Egyptians, indeed all Arabs, are not ready for democracy - that "special circumstances" demand the denial of democracy, and that the brutality visited on them for thirty years was better than the risk of a free vote?

Until just two weeks ago, the newfound friends of the Egyptian revolution claimed - through the person of Hillary Clinton, no less - that Mubarak was the right man to lead a transformation of Egypt's politics, being the "reliable and stable" figure he has been for the past thirty years. At the same time Tony Blair, Middle East envoy of these same Euro-Atlantic powers called Mubarak "immensely courageous and a force for good".

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