Was the Arab Spring Necessary? (article) by Emile M Tubiana on AuthorsDen

In reference to the “Arab Spring” with all respect to the presidency, Obama believes that this was the right thing to do. I don’t think so. Quite to the contrary, as it now becomes obvious that Obama aligned himself with the Muslim radical majority, which he actively instigated and supported, directly or indirectly. What kind of “democracy” or “universal rights” is Obama aligning himself with? The latest uprisings prove that his judgment may not have been right after all.

During the last few weeks, the proudly so-called “Arab Spring” proved in fact to be a catastrophe for us, for our ally Israel, and for the minority and the civilized people of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

In Tunisia, the Ennahda, which is the extension of the Muslim Brotherhood, does not seem to obey the agreement made in the beginning, that it should at this time be ready for new elections. The opposite is happening now; they started to kill leaders of the opposition. We all remember the recent burning of the sixty cars on the embassy parking, and of the American school. They also targeted the embassy but they didn’t succeed to accomplish their prepared task.

During the last month, we have witnessed the catastrophe of Benghazi, Libya, where our ambassador and tree other Americans were murdered and the embassy building was burnt out. This was a large political fiasco, as everyone knew that on September 11 at least potentially, anything could happen in the Middle-East, and they should have been on heightened alert.

The Egyptian revolution brought the control of the government to the Muslim Brotherhood and left the Sinai Peninsula, which had been freed since the Israeli-Egypt peace accord, without any incident, open to terrorist activities. Under Mubarak the Peninsula was well controlled and now it became an operating ground for El Qaida and other terrorist groups, which escape the control of the Egyptian government. This became a headache for the Israelis, as the Sinai became not only an operating ground, but a supply road for weapons to Hamas and even to other states.

For over one year now, the situation in Syria does not appear to get any better, but is worsening. Here again, we wish that the rebels would gain this battle, but we don’t know who these rebels are. At the moment, our policy is to send weapons to them, without knowing anything about them. The USA is silent and no one can tell if the so-called rebels are our friends or our enemies. These so-called rebels are far from gaining the overhand against the Syrian forces that are supported by Syria’s allies Iran, the Hezbollah, Russia, and China, which are constantly supplying Assad’s army.

Neither President Obama nor the administration had any basic understanding of the Arabs and the Middle East in general. When the Republicans disagree with Obama’s policy, the administration changes the entire official dictionary and makes a new policy of discrediting their opponent. No Mr. President! It is not by discrediting your political opponent, that the battle for the vote of the American people can be won. Your political opponent is the backbone of the American economy unless you want to weaken America. Then say it loudly and honestly. On February 2 , 2011, I wrote, “Are the Egyptian riots a spontaneous revolt, or a popular uprising without any leader or instigator?” I doubted then, and I still doubt about it now. Do we really know what the Egyptian people wanted? What kind of government did they want to institute? Do we know what kind of leaders are pulling the strings or working behind the scenes of this so-called spontaneous revolt? After only one year and seeing the results, we know that without our support, no revolution could have happened.

We should not forget that since Obama took office, Iran has been steadily and speedily advancing its nuclear program, despite the sanctions that he strongly tries to make believe that they would cripple their economy and convince the Iranians to stop their project and become a peaceful country. As we can see, they are not moving towards any progress. Now their army is in Syria and in Lebanon which increased the threat to Israel, to Turkey, and to Europe.

President Obama, if you call the Arab Spring necessary, or a success for democracy, I cannot possibly agree with you. In my view, the Arab Spring brought only misery and suffering for the Arab people. I firmly believe that you did not know either the Arab culture, or the Arab civilization, although, as you mentioned in your Cairo speech, you have learned the Holy Koran in the madrassa, the religious school, in Indonesia.

I can say today that the Arab Spring was neither voluntary nor necessary. Instead, in that wasted time, we could have strengthened our economy and enhanced the peoples’ situation much better. We have wasted four years and five trillion US Dollars. All the suffering of the American people was in vain.

If a private entrepreneur incurs too much debt, he is punished. What about the President of the United States? Should we let him continue making more debt on the account of the American people? Are they completely blind, not to see this trend? What are they waiting for to understand? Obama failed with his Arab revolutions and in the economy of the United States. Does he want to create a revolution here, at home? He had his chance; now let somebody else take over the responsibility. There is a German proverb saying: “Besser ein Ende mit Schrecken als ein Schrecken ohne Ende” – “Better a frightful end than fright without an end.”