Wednesday, February 2, 2011

On Egypt: Conservatives See a False Choice

The following statement from Bill O'Reilly represents the view of most Conservatives:

"For decades, the choice in Egypt has been: Does America support Mubarak or the Islamic fundamentalists? Obviously we take Mubarak."

It's not a choice between Mubarak and Islamic fundamentalists, and it never has been. After Mubarak, the Egyptian Army has the most power and they will be the ones who take over when he is pushed out. The Muslim Brotherhood is relatively weak, but Conservatives are quite happy to use them as a boogyman to justify continued support for Mubarak. Supporting dictatorship over self-determination during a popular uprising against a despot that we have financed for many years will only further damage US relations with the Egyptian people.

Popular uprisings in the Middle East are fraught with danger for US interests, but are we going to be true to our core value of self-determination for everyone or will we continue to do what is expedient? Conservatives always pay lip service to core values, but they are always the first to abandon them when they conflict with goals like making money or stability in the Middle East -- which is also mostly about making money.

Another blog post by Ken Padgett
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