Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Rewriting History


Hosni Mubarak.

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Two of North Africa's most feared tyrants sacked in a span of weeks--a thought that would be considered unthinkable as little as a month ago.  In one of the most remarkable moments in modern history, nonviolent movements in both Egypt and Tunisia resulted in the toppling of two regimes that held power for a combined 54 years.  Young and old, educated and poor, religious and secular, Muslim and Christian--people came out in droves to demand basic human rights:  freedom, equality, justice.  A perfect storm of unity and the restoration of humanity.  It is not a leap to state that these events are of the greatest political consequence since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Will Egypt transition to a representative government?
Will the future leader of Tunisia be co-opted by Western powers?
Will the fledgling democracies anticipated be wrought with corruption and abuse?
Will there be an uptick in the economic welfare of the average citizen?
Is this the dawn of a new era or false hope?

Predicting the answers to these questions is impossible.  What is not impossible to predict, is how the United States will rewrite history and portray its role in the downfall of these despicable autocrats.

Since 1979, America has written checks to the dictators in Egypt amounting over $64 billion or the GDP of Serbia and Panama combined.  Like Mubarak, Tunisia's Ben Ali was also supported by US military aid and assistance totaling up to $631 million.  These official numbers are in addition to any underhanded gifts and bribes that undoubtedly changed hands.  The Jasmine Revolution (Tunisia) and particularly, the 25 January Revolution (Egypt) exposed the bipartisan American support for some of the most evil regimes in the world--regimes that engaged in torture, rendition, the stifling of freedoms--of speech, the press, and to gather.  It should be understood in no uncertain terms, that Mubarak and Ben Ali were "America's guys" from Reagan to Obama with every Bush and Clinton in between.

As a swelling mass of daily protesters challenged Hosni Mubarak in the now legendary Tahrir Square in central Cairo, the Obama administration kept sending mixed messages in support of Mubarak.  Hillary Clinton hit the Sunday morning talk show circuit and showed her gratitude to the appointment of a vice president (an unoccupied position in Egyptian government).  That vice president, Omar Suleiman, was better known as America's torture coordinator.  A henchman who oversaw rendition, personally engaged in torture and negotiated the closure of the Rafah border in southern Gaza with Israel (a highly unpopular move amongst the Egyptian populace).  The CIA once requested a DNA sample from an Egyptian to determine if he was related to a wanted person.  Suleiman offered to cut off an entire arm from that person to provide that sample.  This was the guy that Obama praised as a suitable successor--and this was also the same guy wholly rejected by the Egyptian populace as a candidate for their leader.


As it became increasing clear to the public that the despots allied with the United States were anything but benevolent, it became difficult for the American government to overtly support them.  However, it was more than obvious that they made their attempts to maintain the status quo and its benefits:  use of the Suez Canal, access to natural resources and Israeli security.  These items far outweighed the freedom and well-being of Egyptian citizenry.  Controlling a "strongman" is certainly easier than manipulating a government reflective of the voice of the people.  Thus, the following statements emerged during the #Jan25 Revolution:

Tony Blair, former British PM:  [Mubarak is] "immensely courageous and a force for good"


Frank Wisner, Obama Special Envoy to Egypt: "The President (Hosni Mubarak) must stay in office to steer those changes through. I therefore believe that President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical"


Joe Biden, US Vice President: "Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things. And he's been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interest in the region, the Middle East peace efforts; the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with -- with Israel. ... I would not refer to him as a dictator."


Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State: "...I think it's important to follow the transition process announced by the Egyptian government, actually headed by vice-president Omar Suleiman."




Robert Fisk of the Independent characterized the situation:  "One of the blights of history will now involve a U.S. president who held out his hand to the Islamic world and then clenched his fist when it fought a dictatorship and demanded democracy."  It should be noted, and not just inferred, that America held incredible leverage over the likes of Mubarak and Ben Ali as they bankrolled their dominions.  At a time when the desires of the Egyptian people coincided with basic liberties purported by the United States Constitution, Obama and the West clearly turned their back on them.


Unfortunately, as the historic lessons of the past foretell, the actual facts will likely be muddied for personal gain and to avoid historic blemish.  The lack of support by American leadership for amazing, near bloodless revolutions led by armies of young people, via Twitter and Facebook, will be forgotten.  False stories will be told.  Lies will be perpetuated by politicians: "We stood by them, hand in hand to see through democracy." 


The Tunisian populace will not buy into them. The people of Egypt will not buy into them.  It is of much greater importance for the world never to.  

3 comments:

  1. Very good writeup. May it serve to "keep'em honest"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks. History is often rewritten--sometimes we can predict it and I believe this is one of those cases.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Us here in the U.S are count the days that we can vote these two faced pieces of dog sh!t out

    Excellent article

    ReplyDelete