Middle East conflicts?

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

We have all heard the news first came Tunisia then Egypt followed and now today Yemen seems to be following. Do you think Tunisia started a Revolutionist spark in the Arab world? What other nations might soon follow? What do you think about the situation?
Note that Egypt and Yemen are "Key Allies" against Al Qaeda in those parts of the world could this change the "War on Terror" in any way?

 

[Esper]

A lot of people are predicting that if these Arab governments fall, they may be replaced with administrations that are far less friendly to the U.S. Not completely sure how this may affect the "War on Terror".

Well, if they get new governments that are more responsive to their people, particularly where human rights are concerned, then the 'War On Terror' ought to be aided even if the new governments don't want to play with the U.S. since I'd expect you'd have fewer disgruntled people that terrorist groups could get their hands on.

But I don't think we're going to see any widespread revolution across the Arab world. Tunisia still has a lot of the folks from the old government in power after all.

 

[Netto Azure]

Sadly we under the auspices of the US Government like to prop up these repressive autocratic regimes due to fears of a so-called Islamic take-over.

Then again in that part of the world religion affects life quite a lot. [Reminds me of another place I know u_u]

 

[Melody]

Let's not be hasty. It's silly to proclaim worldwide doom and gloom just because people can't agree on religion. :/

As for the radicals, well there will always be radicals and crazy people who just won't agree with a reasonable version of religion. :/
These sorts of people need not be in any sort of power because they fail to realize what harm their beliefs can do.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I am reading some articles saying that Saudi Arabia might be next...if this becomes true then prepare for your prices at the pump to Sky rocket :(!
Here's one I'm reading now: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/new.../will-obama-lose-saudi-arabia/article1885885/

 

[Netto Azure]

It all comes down on the military whether they'll continue to support the current regime.

But yeah:

Egypt: Mubarak sacks cabinet and defends security role

Mr Mubarak was speaking for the first time since the crisis began​

President Hosni Mubarak has defended the role of Egypt's security forces in suppressing anti-government protests which have rocked the country.
Mr Mubarak also dismissed his government and said a new cabinet would be announced on Saturday.


It was his first statement since the protests - in which at least 26 have died with hundreds injured - began.
Tens of thousands took part in protests in Cairo, Suez, Alexandria and other cities.
Protesters set fire to the headquarters of the governing NDP party and besieged state TV and the foreign ministry.
At least 13 people were killed in Suez on Friday, while in Cairo, five people died, according to medical sources.

I do have to point out that he is still governing under "emergency powers" given to him 30 years ago. :/

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I hope our support for Egypt's citizens doesn't become to Obama or the US like Iran did to Carter and we all know how that turned out for the US...

 

[Ivysaur]

Clinton said "Democratic goverments tend to make their citizens happier and cause less trouble in a long run". I do believe they need to kick these "democratic" dictato- I mean, presidents who get 98% of the votes in every election after banning all and any kinds of opposition, and have real democratic ones. Turkey is ruled by an islamic party, and there aren't any major issues, nor radical attacks at all.

Egypt wants freedom. I think the US and the EU should support them instead of sitting in a corner, fearing that turning those countries into real democracies will make them fall into the hands of the radicals. Because, why wouldn't the system that is currently working in the West with good results, also work there? Hypocresy I think it's called.

They just need to set up a proper system and reset the current dictatorial administrations around there. people is smart enough to know what to do after that, if a real system of checks and balances is set up.

 

[Maj. Cor]

These countries are allied with America. If they all start to revolt against their government, what will they expect us to do, if they expect anything at all? I'm just afraid that other countries will start to pull off trends like that. I mean, they're all following the same government revolt that Germany did before WWI and the USSR did during WWI. I'm sure we won't be next, but I'm also wondering if some changes could be heading towards the U.S government. These are our allies, and they're starting to get unruly. What could it mean, you know?​

 

[Shanghai Alice]

It means the US has their hands in everything.

We should play it safe, and let it pan out.

I fear Israel more than Egypt.

 

[Maj. Cor]

It means the US has their hands in everything.

We should play it safe, and let it pan out.

I fear Israel more than Egypt.

The US is the 'World Police' who does a terrible job at their occupation. I honestly think we should just back out of everything, so we can focus on fixing ourselves and not on things we have ultimately no control over. I mean, we can't stop riots, falling foreign governments, and social reforms. We just can't. It's none of our business. If there's nothing we can do about it, why sit around and poke at it? There's no use for that. There's better ways to use our tax dollars than to spend it on troops who can't do anything.

Israel will always be at war with itself, I think. It was a bad idea to make the country of Israel...a religious blunder on the UN's part.​

 

[Amore]

What we really need to do is put Israel back...only problem is that we've moved people around a bit as well (I'm speaking as "We" being the winners of WWII, not just America), so it wouldn't work.

I guess we should really just get all the tourists out, and leave them to it. Worst comes to worse, America declares war on another dictator, and Britain gets dragged into it. Which is pretty bad...especially when you see what happened to Iraq.

I think the example of Israel demonstrates why we should just leave them to it, though. I mean, if we have a less-UN/NATO-friendly government, but the people are happy, just block immigration from there. Stops any radicalised citizens coming over to be terrorists.

Overall, personally I think the U.S. should keep their noses out of it all. Our (Britain) government will do practically anything the U.S. government asks...so if they stay out of it, Britain stays out of it, and the only losers are all these "democratic" dictators who're being overthrown without a war.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I agree America should just stay out of it and simply continue observing what's going on in Egypt and cross their fingers and hope that the same doesn't happen in Jordan or Saudi Arabia though I kind of hope something does happen to get rid of those Dictators...

 

[donavannj]

The US is the 'World Police' who does a terrible job at their occupation. I honestly think we should just back out of everything, so we can focus on fixing ourselves and not on things we have ultimately no control over. I mean, we can't stop riots, falling foreign governments, and social reforms. We just can't. It's none of our business. If there's nothing we can do about it, why sit around and poke at it? There's no use for that. There's better ways to use our tax dollars than to spend it on troops who can't do anything.​

The problem with being the world's superpower is that the rest of the world expects the US to fix its problems and then complains when the US does try to fix them within 6 months of the US stepping in, and they keep expecting the US to do so because the UN, with so many member nations, really has no capacity to get involved with anything because, in the case of most countries, they want nothing to do with the situation and expect the US to stick its hands in there on its own.

 

[Steven]

I'm just going to state my opinion and not get sucked into the debate.

Do I think this is a revolution? No. This has happened many times in that part of the world, usually nothing happens. Egypt's protests might actually result in something, but probably only Egypt's. From Egypt's point of view, it is a revolution. But as the entire middle east, it's just one country having a revolution that is spilling over into near-by countries that probably won't result in anything.

But..

Go Egypt! :D

 

[Livewire]

Edited the thread title a bit so we can encompass the various conflicts under one thread.

That being said, the Egyptian situation has me a bit worried, being in such close proximity to Israel and Palestine. Egypt and the Mubarak regime are, for all intents and purposes, Israeli allies. Without it's only ally in the region, Israel may find itself in a tight spot, politically. And being in an already volatile region, any conflict has the possibility of spreading and enlarging into full scale warfare.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I don't know how the Us can they promote Democracy in the Middle East but has supported this dictator for 30 years...

 

[Livewire]

I don't know how the Us can they promote Democracy in the Middle East but has supported this dictator for 30 years...

Well, Mubarak was only really supported because he had a favorable stance towards Israel. Both Obama and The state Department have made calls for an improved, actual democratic system in Egypt. Hopefully Mubarak will figure it out.

 

[Ivysaur]

I don't really think that a dictator can stand an actual democracy after 30 years of doing everything he wants because he's an Israeli ally and thus a safer choice for the US than a possible Islamic president.

I think he has to leave and start everything from 0. Nobel Prize El Baradei has offered himself as an interim president until real elections are finally celebrated.

 

[Netto Azure]

Mubarak vows to quit after polls

Mr Mubarak said the protests were controlled by political cowards​

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said that he will not stand for re-election in September, as protests against his rule grow.

Speaking on state TV, Mr Mubarak promised constitutional reform, but said he wanted to stay until the end of his current presidential term.

The announcement came as tens of thousands rallied in central Cairo urging him to step down immediately.

The demonstration was the biggest since protests began last week.

The BBC's Jim Muir, among the protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, says the crowd erupted in jubilation after hearing the president's speech.

Egyptians are patient, he says, and may be prepared to wait for a few more months for his departure.

Mr Mubarak said he would devote his remaining time in power to ensuring a peaceful transition of power to his successor.

But he criticised the protests, saying what began as a civilised phenomenon turned into a violent event controlled by political cowards.

He said he had offered to meet all parties but there were political powers that had refused dialogue.

Leaders of the protests had called on Mr Mubarak to step down by Friday, when demonstrators were planning to march on the presidential palace.

Well here we are sailing at the unknown. While I deplore this regime, the US has just lost a stable ally in the Middle East. (Israel will further go into bunker mentality)

Plus Egypt had been a major plank in US Middle East policy since the Peace accords in the 1970's...so...we'll see what happens.