THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 31, January 30, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
WAITING & WATCHING EGYPT
By Alan Caruba
THE CONTEXT OF THE TURMOIL IN THE ISLAMIC MIDDLE EAST: THE CULTURE & HISTORY, PAST & RECENT, OF THE
COUNTRIES & PEOPLES COMPRISING THE MIDDLE EAST -- GEOPOLITICAL RELEVANCE OF THE MIDDLE EAST TO AMERICAN
& WESTERN INTERESTS -- LOCATION, PEOPLES, & NATURAL RESOURCES -- WESTERN IMPERIALISM -- THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
-- WORLD WARS I & II -- THE ISRAELI-ARAB CONFLICT -- ARAB NATIONALISM & PAN-ARAB NATIONALISM -- ABSOLUTE
MONARCHIES & DICTATORSHIPS -- RISE OF THE ISLAMIST MOVEMENT -- JIHADIST ORGANIZATIONS -- RISE OF AN
ISLAMIST IRAN SEEKING TO BECOME A NUCLEAR POWER -- A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN EGYPT
FULL STORY:
It took several weeks for word of the British defeat at Yorktown to reach the King and Parliament. Not long after the end
of the American Revolution, the U.S. government led by President George Washington dispatched diplomats to London
to negotiate a trade treaty.
Today, we watch events unfold in far off places, often in real time. What we lack, however, is context. Most Americans
and, I suspect, peoples comprising other Western nation-states are frequently at a loss when it comes to knowing
anything about the culture and history, past and recent, of nations in the Middle East, Africa, or Asia.
What we do know about the Middle East is that, since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, along with the rise of al-Qa'ida
and other jihadist organizations, things have not gone well for American and Western interests.
How different everything might have been if U.S. troops had occupied Tehran in 1979 and demanded the return of our
diplomats after they had been taken hostage.
After World War One, what was once the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the Middle East and areas of the Maghreb in
northern Africa, the French and the British got out their maps at the Versailles conference to literally draw new lines on it
and create new countries that were, in fact, colonies. They included Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and a strip of territory called
the Palestinian mandate. The chief prize at stake was oil.
After World War Two was concluded, many of the former British and French colonies, including India, and much of
Africa declared their independence. The Saudi Royal family had already thrown in its lot with America. In Egypt, the Suez
Canal, opened in 1869, was jointly owned by the British and French. The British called the shots there through their
manipulation and control of the Egyptian royal family.
The Egyptian defeat in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which commenced in response to the establishment of the Jewish State
of Israel, stirred discontent among Egypt's military leadership. Gamal Abdel Nasser ultimately emerged as Egypt’s top
leader, taking over from General Muhammad Naguib, who had become the first President Of Egypt, following the Egyptian
Revolution of 1952, a bloodless coup d'etat instigated by the Free Officers Movement, the coup which overthrew King
Farouk and the royal family. In 1956, President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.
Here’s where it gets very instructive. In 1956, the British and French, with Israeli involvement, sent troops to seize the
Suez Canal. That operation was quashed by U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, who made it known that the United States
would not support it. The era of colonization was over.
What had been occurring, however, was an era of pent-up anger throughout the Middle East, focused on the
establishment of Israel and resentment of the former colonial powers. The British had earlier installed a royal family in Iraq.
A new component was opposition to the dictators (like Saddam Hussein) who emerged to run Iraq. Another example is
the fact that, first, the British and, then, the Americans had controlled Iran’s oil through its royal family. Other royal
families continue to control Mideast oil.
Ironically, it took U.S. President George W. Bush to rid Iraq of three decades of despotic rule by Saddam Hussein.
However, this has to be balanced against the fact that the U.S.A. has also supported the authoritarian regime of Hosni
Mubarak in Egypt. It was, however, Egypt, as well as Jordan, who made peace with Israel.
Arab military defeats gave way to support for the socalled Palestinians as pawns in the war against Israel. The main
support of the Palestinian "refugees" is the United Nations, sixty-three years after 1948 and subsequent wars to destroy
Israel. Iran has funded two Palestinian terrorist organizations, Hezbollah and Hamas.
At the heart of the turmoil in the Middle East is Islamism, a movement to restore Islam to its former glory when it literally
knocked on the doors of Europe. The jihadists (such as Usama bin Ladin) dream of a worldwide Islamic caliphate. As in
the early spread of Islam, it would be achieved through war, but the tactics employed would be use of terrorism and
expanding Islam’s population worldwide.
An irony of the Islamist movement is its opposition to the monarchies ruling Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, all of
whom have proven to be good allies to the United States at the same time they have funded the spread of Islam. In
Egypt, under Mubarak, the jihadists known as the Muslim Brotherhood were ruthlessly suppressed. The Saudis actually
exiled bin Ladin.
What the world has witnessed has proven to be very bad news for the West. The 1979 Iranian Revolution has given us
Mamoud Ahmadinejad and a regime plotting through proxies to control Lebanon via Hezbollah and Gaza via Hamas,
while it plots to control Iraq and eyes the Gulf States as well. Its closest ally these days is Syria. The Iranian regime has
long sought to become a nuclear power. Its proclaimed goal is to destroy Israel.
Democracy has not turned out to be much help in the Middle East. Rigged elections in Egypt kept Hosni Mubarak in
power for three decades. Saddam Hussein used terror and the Baath Party to achieve and hold on to power. Elections
were rigged in Afghanistan. Pakistan has been mainly ruled by its military.
Lebanon was a democracy, but now its Prime Minister comes from the ranks of Hezbollah. Turkey has had a long run of
real democracy, but only because its military ensured that Islamists did not take over.
Americans have a lot at stake and, of growing concern to many, a President, Barack Hussein Obama, whose first
television interview was with Al Jazeera, who bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, and whose first global outing
was a tour of the Middle East to demonstrate how friendly he was to their cause.
© Alan Caruba, 2011
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Egypt, Arabs, & the Middle East
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
North Africa -- The Arab States of Islamic North Africa
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Alan Caruba writes a daily post at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com. An author, commentator and business and science writer,
he is the Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about "scare campaigns" designed to influence
public opinion and public policy.
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XIII, 2011
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity