The changing Middle East; Democracy, a definition

Notes 50


Echoes of Soviet collapse in Mideast revolt
LONDON – Tunisia. Egypt. Yemen. The astounding pro-democracy domino effect in the Arab world evokes the shock waves of 1989 that toppled communism in Eastern Europe and eventually brought down the Soviet Union.
While former political leaders have mixed feelings about parallels, some analysts believe the comparison between Eastern Europe in 1989 and the Middle East today is useful.
"I hear it coming out of the region," said Eugene Rogan, director of the Middle East Center at the University of Oxford and author of "The Arabs: A History."
"The Tunisians talked about their movement being similar to what happened in the Gdansk shipyard with Solidarity. They see this as a starting point for changing the Arab world."
"The Poles showed the rest of the region that demonstrations and strikes could challenge the state's ability to repress basic rights, like freedom of speech and free assembly, the same lesson the Tunisians hoped to teach other Arab nations," Rogan said.

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Middle East view of democracy at odds with U.S. view

Edward S. Walker, MA, former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, in a 2002 Middle East Quarterly interview, stated the following:
"What Hizbullah did in south Lebanon was not terrorism; it was resistance, because it was directed solely at military targets. But this is not the sum of Hizbullah, which is on the terror list for a host of other reasons — for its terrorist actions. It is a terrorist organization. Absolutely."
Saleh Kallab, Spokesman for the Jordanian government, as quoted by Islam Online.net, in an article titled "Jordan, Lebanon Urge U.S. to Exclude Hizbollah From Terrorist List":
"The Palestinian and Arab groups which operate for the sake of Palestinian independence cannot be classified as terrorist organizations."
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Democracy at work in Lebanon
Hezbollah Chooses Lebanon’s Next Prime Minister
Bryan Denton for The New York Times
By ANTHONY SHADID
Published: January 24, 2011

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A prime minister chosen by Hezbollah and its allies won enough support on Monday to form Lebanon’s government, unleashing angry protests, realigning politics and culminating the generation-long ascent of the Shiite Muslim movement from shadowy militant group to the country’s pre-eminent political and military force.
American diplomats tried to forestall the triumph of Hezbollah’s candidate, Najib Miqati. Although the final votes will be cast Tuesday, Mr. Miqati won the decisive vote from a politician who said he had to deal “with the reality on the ground.”

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Another view of legal response by a democratically elected government. Iran gets that. Cheney’s view of proper legal response to torture in democracy is different. He’s proud of his role in torture.

Report: Iran executes 2 in torture deaths
TEHRAN, Iran – A pro-government web site says Iran has executed two prison officials convicted of the 2009 torture deaths of three anti-government protesters.
Sunday's report by the Khabarnameh Daneshjooyan web site says the executions were reported by Abdolhossein Rouhalamini, the father of one of the victims and a prominent conservative figure.
The torture deaths had sparked an outcry even among influential government supporters. The case drew some of the fiercest criticism against the government over its treatment of protesters in the turmoil following 2009's disputed presidential election.

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Obama administration response to democratic movement in Egypt, the meaning of his insistence that Egyptians choose for Egyptians

US manipulation in Egypt can plunge world into another crisis: PEW

Efforts aimed at aborting revolution can result in enhanced civil unrest that will send oil prices to unprecedented heights pushing millions more into poverty and prevent worldwide growth, it said.
Soaring oil prices are not in the interest of anyone; it will add to wealth while millions will suffer; everyone lose in the end, said Dr Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.
Egypt crisis can only be resolved if dictator is ousted along with his team and true representative government is allowed to come into power, he said.
The Obama administration envisions a regime based on the military, Mubarak adjutants, corrupt opposition leaders, UN and Arab League officials know for their affiliations, he said.
Choosing politicians from ruling National Democratic Party and officials heading notoriously brutal security apparatus will amount to hijacking revolution that will unleash another wave of mass anger, he warned.

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El Baradei’s point seems to be overlooked by Obama the same way he overlooked his own idea of transformation. The Old Guard has got to go is it is not to keep control. And Obama’s failure to achieve transformation is proof of the axiom.

Opposition figure ElBaradei slams Egypt talks
The Nobel Peace laureate said weekend talks with Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman were managed by the same people who had ruled the country for 30 years and lack credibility.
"I mean, the whole idea was ... to move from that regime to a new regime," ElBaradei said. "Mubarak continues to be a symbol of that old regime and I will not give any legitimacy to the existing regime because the whole idea is that this regime has no legitimacy -- has lost whatever credibility."

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The Bully Pulpit, the credibility of the government with the Public and its ability to control how we see the world

Biden: Mubarak Should Not Step Down
Published January 28, 2011
| FoxNews.com
Though the administration says it's not taking sides, Biden said in an interview aired Thursday that Mubarak has been a U.S. "ally" on "a number of things," praising him for being "very responsible" in normalizing Egypt's relationship with Israel and aiding in Middle East peace talks.
"I would not refer to him as a dictator," Biden said on PBS' NewsHour

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Over 4 days, the morphing of the official 30 year view of Mubarak from democrat to obstacle to democracy

Latest News Hosni Mubarak Must Lead Egypt to Democracy, Says Envoy
Hosni Mubarak Must Lead Egypt to Democracy, Says Envoy
February 5, 2011 3:24 PM
Cairo, Egypt on January 30, 2011. UPI
Frank Weisner, who met the 82-year-old autocratic ruler when he was dispatched to the capital of Cairo on Monday, said it is "crucial" that Mubarak retain his authority for the time being.
"We're by no means out of the woods but at least a path is opening" toward a smooth transition to democracy, AP reports.
"I believe that President Mubarak's continued leadership is crucial - it's his chance to write his own legacy," Weisner, a former ambassador to Egypt, told the conference.
He added that Mubarak now faces the "huge responsibility" of navigating the transition peacefully.

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Democracy in Palestinian States. Hamas majority in Palestinian Parliament and entitled to select Prime Minister for all of Palestinian States’ government. Not according to U.S.

Hamas Sweeps Palestinian Elections, Complicating Peace Efforts in Mideast
Youssef Shrafi, a Hamas candidate for the Palestinian parliament, is congratulated at his home in the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. (By Mohammed Salem -- Reuters)

By Scott WilsonWashington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 27, 2006
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan. 26 -- The radical Islamic movement Hamas won a large majority in the new Palestinian parliament, according to official election results announced Thursday, trouncing the governing Fatah party in a contest that could dramatically reshape the Palestinians' relations with Israel and the rest of the world.

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Hamas a threat to American view of democracy as what is good for America is good for everybody else

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter
8/27/2009
What is Hamas?
Hamas is the largest and most influential Palestinian militant movement. In January 2006, the group won the Palestinian Authority's (PA) general legislative elections, defeating Fatah, the party of the PA's president, Mahmoud Abbas, and setting the stage for a power struggle. Historically, Hamas has sponsored an extensive social service network. Hamas has launched attacks both in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and inside the pre-1967 boundaries of Israel. In Arabic, the word "hamas" means zeal. But it's also an Arabic acronym for "Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya," or Islamic Resistance Movement.

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Hamas on U.S Terrorist list from 1995 to present

U.S. Army War College Publishes Apologia for Hamas
IPT News
January 21, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/979/us-army-war-college-publishes-apologia-for-hamas
The U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) published a monograph last month by Sherifa Zuhur entitled, "Hamas and Israel: Conflicting Strategies of Group-Based Politics," a fairly bland heading that only hints at its deeply disturbing content. This monograph is more accurately described as an apologia for Hamas, a violent Islamist organization dedicated to jihad and the destruction of the State of Israel. Hamas was first designated by the United States (U.S.) government as a terrorist organization in 1995 by a presidential executive order and then again as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) in 1997. Hamas has remained on the FTO list ever since.

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Suicide as a means of protest, not terrorism, has impact on international politics

Pakistani woman attempts suicide after US shooting
By Babar Dogar, Associated Press – Sun Feb 6, 9:18 am ET
LAHORE, Pakistan – The wife of a Pakistani man shot and killed by a U.S. official tried to commit suicide by eating rat poison Sunday, explaining that she was driven to act by fears the American would be freed without trial, a doctor said.
The U.S. has demanded Pakistani authorities release the American, saying he shot and killed two armed men in self-defense when they attempted to rob him as he drove his car in the eastern city of Lahore. He was arrested on Jan. 27, and the U.S. has said he has diplomatic immunity and is being illegally detained.
The shootings have stoked anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, feelings that could be further inflamed by Shumaila Kanwal's suicide attempt, especially if she dies. Her condition was steadily deteriorating after ingesting the rat poison, said Ali Naqi, the doctor treating her in Faisalabad city.

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Reagan’s Legacy

TRUTHOUT'S BUZZFLASH DAILY HEADLINES


Reagan led America into the death of Main Street while he championed its glory.
He did that by acting the role of the proud defender of "American exceptionalism" and "moral values," while he implemented a policy and mindset that led to the economic decline of "middle America" – and championed death squads and brutal dictatorships abroad.
But his most detrimental accomplishment was ushering in the age of governance by global corporations – who have an allegiance only to profits and manufacturing at the lowest cost (overseas), not to jobs or decent pay in the United States.
Yesterday, BuzzFlash wrote about how this destructive change in America's political prism was exemplified by GE's launching of Reagan's political career, and how GE is still benefiting in the Obama White House.
Journalist David Lindorff trenchantly analyzes how GE's investment in Reagan is still paying off - in the Obama administration - with the cynical appointment of GE honcho Jeffrey Immelt as "jobs czar":
Between 2005 and 2009, according to GE’s own 10-K financial reports, the company shed jobs in the US so fast, and added them abroad so fast, that the US employee share of GE’s total workforce dropped from 51 percent to 44 percent, a process of job destruction that has continued apace since then. In 2009 and 2010, according to information compiled by the United Electrical Workers (UE), GE closed down 29 manufacturing plants in North America, 28 of them in the US and one in Canada.... Meanwhile, Immelt recently told Forbes magazine about his company’s plans for expanding jobs ... in India.
It gets worse. GE is a master at using offshore tax schemes to avoid paying its fair share to the help cover for the costs of running America. As Lindorff documents,
The company also likes the idea of lower corporate taxes (for the years 2007 to 2009, according to Citizens for Tax Justice's Bob McIntyre, Immelt's GE managed to finagle a tax rate of -14.1%, which is to say the government gave the company an extra 14.1% over and above its profits!), and of course all kinds of tax incentives aimed at increasing hiring, though these measures, while helping corporate bottom lines, have demonstrably failed to lead to significant job creation. GE also opposes measures that would punish companies for outsourcing production, or that would make it harder for it to bring in high-skilled workers from abroad to replace educated but higher-paid American workers.
In short, it is now politically acceptable for a Democratic president to appoint a chief adviser on job creation whose major skill set is closing American plants, sending jobs overseas, and not only avoiding his company (GE) from paying taxes, but actually ending up with a US government subsidy.
On the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birthday, this is his legacy. The myth of "morning in America" will endure in Republican fundraisers and fawning corporate media coverage, but the facts speak for themselves – and they are a damning indictment.
Mark Karlin
Editor, BuzzFlash at Truthout