The revolt in Tunisia appears to have set off a spark that is rapidly spreading around the world.\u00a0 Lebanon was overtaken by Hezbollah.\u00a0 There are reports of problems in Jordan, Albania, Yemen and Iran.\u00a0 Now it appears that it will take a miracle for the Egyptian government to survive.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, unless we are very lucky, this is unlikely to end well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When there was wide spread resistance in Iran, Obama did absolutely nothing.\u00a0 That was a situation where people were rebelling against a dangerous Islamic regime, but Obama never said a word in support.\u00a0 \u00a0Contrast that with the situation in Egypt where Obama is publicly warning Egypt to not use force to quell the protests.\u00a0 Egypt has a repressive government, but there is a lot more freedom in Cairo than there is in Tehran.\u00a0 While Obama did nothing to help the people in Iran, he is more than willing to push Mubarak into the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is reminiscent of the way Jimmy Carter handled<\/strong> Iran.\u00a0 Jimmy Carter was determined to spread \u201chuman rights\u201d around the world.\u00a0 Naturally places like China and the Soviet Union weren\u2019t listening, so he only put pressure on \u201cour friends.\u201d\u00a0 He warned the Shah of Iran to avoid using violence to suppress the resistance.\u00a0 The Shah tried to warn Carter that he was dealing with Islamic fundamentalist and that the Shah would likely be replaced with something far worse.\u00a0 Carter did not listen.\u00a0 Instead Carter pushed the Shah to show restraint toward those who only understand brute force.\u00a0 Ultimately, the Shah was over-thrown and he was replaced with the most radical and dangerous Islamic regime in the world.\u00a0 That regime quickly thanked Carter by attacking our embassy and humiliating the U.S. in front of the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n Obama is following the exact same strategy in Egypt.\u00a0 Egypt is the closest thing we have to a friend in the Arab world.\u00a0 It is, after all, the Arab country that signed a peace treaty with Israel.\u00a0 \u00a0Now Obama not only seems reconciled to letting Mubarak fail, he is giving him advice that makes this a near certainty.\u00a0 \u00a0Mubarak has warned Obama that if he loses control Egypt could be dominated by Muslim extremists, just like in Iran, but Obama is not listening.<\/p>\n The following article explains the problem:<\/p>\n http:\/\/punditpress.blogspot.com\/2011\/01\/bbc-egyptian-tanks-surround-us-uk.html<\/a><\/p>\n Perhaps Obama does not get it, but clearly the Government of Egypt does.\u00a0 Those tanks are surrounding our embassy and the UK embassy because they know what will happen if they are not there.\u00a0 Ironically, Mubarak appears to be more interested in protecting our interests than our own President.\u00a0 Obama has only been encouraging Mubarak to show restraint:\u00a0<\/p>\n http:\/\/blogs.abcnews.com\/politicalpunch\/2011\/01\/axelrod-president-obama-has-on-several-occasions-directly-confronted-mubarak-on-human-rights-for-the.html<\/a><\/p>\n But the question is restraint with regard to whom?\u00a0 The major opposition party in Egypt is the Muslim Brotherhood.\u00a0 The roots of al Qaeda can be traced directly to the Muslim Brotherhood.\u00a0 The stated goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is as follows:<\/p>\n The Brotherhood’s stated goal is to instill the Qur’an and Sunnah as the “sole reference point for … ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community … and state”.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n There are some people who believe that the Muslim Brotherhood has moved past its history of violence and that we should learn to get along with them.\u00a0 But, where in this statement is there the slightest hint that these people are willing to tolerate anything other than radical Islam?\u00a0 Whether they achieve this goal through violence or the ballot box, the outcome is the same, a society that has zero tolerance for other ideas.\u00a0 This is why no Muslim country embraces freedom of religion.\u00a0 Freedom of religion is incomparable with Islam itself.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n The Muslim Brotherhood has been banned in Egypt for years, but it obviously still exists.\u00a0 Recently its leaders have run for office as \u201cindependents.\u201d\u00a0 The opposition leader in Egypt who was recently imprisoned may fall into that category.\u00a0 Mohamed ElBaradei gave an interview with Der Spiegel a few days ago saying:\u00a0<\/p>\n We should stop demonizing the Muslim Brotherhood. … [They] have not committed any acts of violence in five decades. They too want change. If we want democracy and freedom, we have to include them instead of marginalizing them,” <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n He is represented in the main stream media as a Nobel Peace Prize winning reformist.\u00a0 \u00a0But he is also an activist who strongly opposed the Bush administration with regard to Iraq.\u00a0 He tried to convince the world that Saddam Hussein\u2019s nuclear ambitions were not a serious threat.\u00a0 We now know that Saddam Hussein had a lust for nuclear weapons that was only restrained by his inability to obtain sufficient enriched uranium.\u00a0 One thing is certain, Mohammed ElBaradei was no friend of the U.S. in the past and it would be foolish to assume he would be a friend now.\u00a0<\/p>\n Iran clearly sees this situation as perfect for turning Egypt into another Islamic fundamentalist state:<\/p>\n \u00a0http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/01\/29\/world\/middleeast\/29iran.html?_r=2&hp<\/a><\/p>\n Obama told Mubarak that: \u201csuppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 That sounds good, but it is incredibly na\u00efve. \u00a0It assumes that all ideas are equal.\u00a0 But the idea of the Muslim Brotherhood is to force everyone to become Muslims.\u00a0 They believe only in tolerance of them, not tolerance by them.\u00a0 If someone says that their mission is to take away your freedom, you either fight or you lose your freedom.\u00a0 Compromise leads only to slavery.\u00a0 Suppressing ideas may never make them go away, but it can sure prevent them from enslaving you.<\/p>\n Some people believe in the rule of law and fair play.\u00a0 But others reject the rule of law and are unconcerned about the interests of anyone but themselves.\u00a0 Every civilized society got that way by first squelching the ideas of criminals.\u00a0 It is really quite simple.\u00a0 If good people do not intervene, evil people always rule.\u00a0 Evil is never silenced by good intentions, it is silenced by good people willing to fight for what is right.\u00a0 Contrary to what Obama said in one of his speeches, German, Italy and Japan were not defeated by good intentions and ideals.\u00a0 They were defeated by overwhelming military force.\u00a0 Only after the military victory was it possible to allow our former enemies to enjoy the chance at true democracy.<\/p>\n Egypt is on the verge of meltdown.\u00a0 Regardless of who remains in power, if the mob rules the result is unlikely to be good.\u00a0 \u00a0I hope and pray that the end result will be a more democratic and free Egypt.\u00a0 I fear that the opposite is more likely.\u00a0<\/p>\n At a time like this it is important to remind ourselves of the contrast between the American Revolution and the French Revolution.\u00a0 The American Revolution was let by men who knew the importance of having a government powerful enough to maintain control, but balanced enough to facilitate freedom.\u00a0 The French revolution was an angry mob that descended into anarchy and ultimately led to Napoleon.\u00a0 Angry mobs may destroy governments, but they rarely create democracies.\u00a0 Right now Obama seems to be primarily focused on seeing Mubarak out of power.\u00a0 He is cautioning Mubarak to not use violence to suppress protest.\u00a0 But, EVERY<\/strong> government has a right to maintain civil order.\u00a0 Tonight the police in Cairo have withdrawn and citizens are being told they need to defend themselves.\u00a0 That should be a stark reminder that there is a huge difference between peaceful protest and mob rule.\u00a0 Obama has no right to ask Mubarak to stand by and watch his country disintegrate into anarchy.\u00a0<\/p>\n So far it looks like the Egyptian government, particularly the military remains in control.\u00a0 It appears that the Egyptian people are willing to accept the presence of the military and there is a chance that there will be a peaceful transition of power.\u00a0 I suspect that most Egyptians are not interested in living in a state dominated by Islamic fundamentalists.\u00a0 If given a choice, they are likely to choose freedom and democracy.\u00a0 But if the decision is made by an angry mob, such an opportunity for choice is extremely unlikely.\u00a0 Instead of Obama warning Mubarak to not resort to force to control angry mobs, he should be encouraging the citizens to keep the protests peaceful so that no force is necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shortly after 9-11 there was an eye opening experience for me.\u00a0 Vladimir Putin called George Bush and gave support.\u00a0 He said:\u00a0 \u201cnow you understand what we are dealing with in Chechnya.\u201d\u00a0 I did some research I found out that I had been incredibly na\u00efve about Chechnya. \u00a0If you want to check this out for yourself, read the following:<\/p>\n http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/europe\/country_profiles\/2565049.stm<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0I had assumed this was people just wanting to be free from the dominance of Russia.\u00a0 That was certainly true to a large degree.\u00a0 But, there was also a problem with Chechnya rebels who wanted to turn Chechnya into an Islamic fundamentalist state. \u00a0Putin used the 9-11 attack as an excuse to subdue the Chechnya separatists.\u00a0 \u00a0The Chechnya Separatists were not interested in a peaceful resolution.\u00a0 The point is that there is a big difference between those who believe in freedom and those who only believe in freedom to force everyone to follow their bidding.<\/p>\n The opposite of tyranny is not democracy, it is anarchy.\u00a0 Democracy is only possible by suppression of evil so that good can live in peace.\u00a0\u00a0 Tolerating intolerance is a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n TDM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The revolt in Tunisia appears to have set off a spark that is rapidly spreading around the world.\u00a0 Lebanon was overtaken by Hezbollah.\u00a0 There are reports of problems in Jordan, Albania, Yemen and Iran.\u00a0 Now it appears that it will … 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