Events in Egypt show U.S. understanding of Middle East is almost zero
By Fatih Abdulsalam
February 6, 2011
The U.S. has shown that it does not understand and comprehend the pulse of the street in the Arab world despite its multifarious intelligence agencies. It has drastically failed to weigh the influence governments, oppositions and Arab populations exercise in the Arab world.
It seems the U.S. relies heavily on unilateral sources which are very close to the circles of power in the Middle East and lacks the ability to interpret and decipher the situation and its likely course in the future.
In thousands of documents WikiLeaks has released of secret correspondence regarding the Middle East, there has been no hint that the days of U.S. allies in the region were close.
Today, the U.S. tries its best, through contacts with other Arab capitals, to contain the situation. But this time, Washington is not seeking the assistance of International Monetary Fund to help the region’s countries privatize their economy and societies.
It is no good blaming the past. The U.S. now realizes change is coming. Arab leaders, after the events in both Tunisia and Egypt, have taught every leader in the Middle East a lesson.
But what is striking in all this is the fact that the U.S., while realizing that change is in the offing, does not seem to have grasped the lesson.
The Egyptian people want the whole regime to go. The U.S. is striving to bring about the type of change that will change the head and keep the regime.
Could it be that U.S. politicians do not have efficient translators to render into proper English what the millions of Egyptians have been shouting in the past two weeks.
The motto in the Liberation Square in the heart of Cairo calls for a fresh start and a change not only in the head but the whole regime. This is the meaning of the slogans the Egyptians have been raising for more than a fortnight. Did anyone translate them differently for the U.S. administration?
There are no indications so far that the U.S. would accept a democratic leadership that dispenses with the legacy of the present regime.
Therefore, the U.S. is only interested in the type of negotiations and discussions that will find an exit for the head of the regime and keep his base intact.
This also shows that the U.S. interprets the events in Egypt as a vendetta between the Egyptian people and their president. Otherwise, how could one understand U.S.’s willingness and happiness with the second man in command, i.e. the new vice-president.
Who turned President Hosni Mubarak into a dictator? There is no evidence that he owes his dictatorship to extra-terrestrial beings.
Egyptians understand that Mubarak owes his tyranny to the U.S. and his cronies who the U.S. would like to see at the helm of power instead of him
Certainly, Mubarak is very sad now. His sadness does not emanate from the fact that his own people are trampling on his portraits with their feet almost everywhere in Egypt.
Mubarak is sad because he has come to realize his standing in U.S. eyes.