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Is Obama "Cartering" the Egypt protests?

Posted 31 Jan 2011 in Barack Obama, foreign policy

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dithering

President Obama spoke over the weekend about the past week’s violence and demonstrations in Egypt. He mentioned reform and reiterated a tepid support for basic human freedoms. It appears that he’s carefully weighing his words so as not to disturb the rainbows and unicorns from his Cairo Speech, nor repeat President Carter’s mishandling of the Iranian Revolution in 1978.

(Full text of Obama’s statement available here)

Obama’s noncommittal might come back to bite him, just like Carter’s abandonment of the Shah led to Iran’s descent into radical Islamic fundamentalism. And the big IF in these Egyptian protests is whether the Muslim Brotherhood will be swept into power if Mubarak steps down. Ed Morrissey defends the Obama administration’s quiet diplomacy:

In a crisis with almost no leverage and almost no good options or outcomes, so far the Obama administration seems to be doing a good job of not overplaying its very weak hand.

One reason they may not be in a rush to push Mubarak into leaving is this CNN clip from Nick Robertson with protesters in Cairo, who explain that they want Egypt unleashed so that they can destroy Israel:

Neal Boortz offers a few thoughts about Obama’s cred in the Middle East:

When it comes to pressuring Mubarak to institute democratic reforms in Egypt, Obama has been a no-show. During the administration of George W. Bush, Mubarak was under constant pressure to institute both democratic and economic reforms. As soon as Obama was sworn in that pressure came to a screaming halt. Obama chose to use Cairo as the back drop for his message to the Islamic world. But in that message, he never said anything about promoting freedom and economic liberty, a message the young Egyptian people most certainly wanted to hear.

At The Washington Post, Elliott Abrams makes a bold claim — “…George W. Bush was right about freedom in the Arab world.”

All these developments seem to come as a surprise to the Obama administration, which dismissed Bush’s “freedom agenda” as overly ideological and meant essentially to defend the invasion of Iraq. But as Bush’s support for the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon and for a democratic Palestinian state showed, he was defending self-government, not the use of force. Consider what Bush said in that 2003 speech, which marked the 20th anniversary of the National Endowment for Democracy, an institution established by President Ronald Reagan precisely to support the expansion of freedom.

“Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe – because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty,” Bush said. “As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment and violence ready for export.” [emphasis added — FMP]

This spirit did not always animate U.S. diplomacy in the Bush administration; plenty of officials found it unrealistic and had to be prodded or overruled to follow the president’s lead. But the revolt in Tunisia, the gigantic wave of demonstrations in Egypt and the more recent marches in Yemen all make clear that Bush had it right – and that the Obama administration’s abandonment of this mind-set is nothing short of a tragedy.

…If the Arab regimes learn the wrong lessons and turn once again to their police and their armies, the U.S. reaction becomes even more important. President Obama’s words of support for both the demonstrators and the government late Friday, after speaking with Mubarak, were too little, too late. He said Mubarak had called for “a better democracy” in Egypt, but Obama’s remarks did not clearly demand democracy or free elections there. We cannot deliver democracy to the Arab states, but we can make our principles and our policies clear. Now is the time to say that the peoples of the Middle East are not “beyond the reach of liberty” and that we will assist any peaceful effort to achieve it – and oppose and condemn efforts to suppress it.

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UPDATE: My favorite tweet of the day — U.S. changes its relationship status with Egypt on Facebook from “in a relationship” to “it’s complicated.” Iran, Lebanon, Syria & Palestine ‘like’ this

UPDATE: Video of the protests in Cairo, showing large crowds of people clashing with Egyptian police in riot gear. (h/t: Left Coast Rebel)

RELATED LINKAROUND: The ongoing revolution in Egypt could directly affect America, which is more than enough reason to stay actively involved…

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There are many examples of radical Islamic supremacism in Egypt, and if President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton keep voicing support for “regime change”, we might end up with a situation every bit as bad as any current jihadi snakepit. This video from Al-Rahma TV shows how Egyptian children are being indoctrinated to hate all Jews.

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Posted by FullMetalPatriot
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT

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