FEBRUARY 2011

February has come in with a bang, both figuratively and literally. The unrest in the Middle East that was started in a lesser nation of the region has engulfed Egypt. I originally thought (and still) do that home grown Islamic radicals would try something here in the US this year … I had no clue that Islamists would be hard at work reshaping the political and religious direction of the Muslim nations in the Middle East.

I understand that the people of the Middle East are hurting. Their governments have been oppressive, restrictive, and at times brutal … but I’ll have to ask you, what’s new with that? It is time they came into the modern age and by now they should have had well established democratic representative governments like ours. I never agreed with “W” when he said that a new democratic government in Iraq did not have to resemble ours … I thought he was wrong (there I said it). Our form of government has worked well and is the most successful democracy in world history … our economic system has been too. So why wouldn’t imitating our form of government in the Middle East be a good idea?

I’m not sure why the Obama White House is behind the movement in Egypt to change the government, but did nothing to foster the removal of Iran’s oppressive, antagonistic government when thousands there were demonstrating in 2009. Iran has been a threat to Middle Eastern peace while Egypt has been a stabilizing presence. Iran is an enemy, Egypt an ally … so why such a different reaction from the Obama administration?

When Egypt falls, all holds are off and the next US ally will fall … by that, I mean that I believe that Saudi Arabia will be the next target of the Islamists. If that happens then, of course, Israel will be in the crosshairs of radical Muslims and the Islamists … but before they attack Israel, will they threaten to reduce the flow of oil or will they actually cut the flow of oil off to the world? Either way, it will be an attempt to blackmail the rest of the world and isolate Israel from her allies. If that happens, a global struggle will take place … because once the nations of Europe are starved for oil and the price of it becomes out of control, they will attack the region and take the oil. They will do it regardless of what happens to Israel … and they will do it with or without the United States. Why? … because they need their oil more that we do. We have the resources to sustain ourselves, but we haven’t tapped into them.

Our own natural resources remain unused mostly due to weak political leaders that have never countered liberals and radical environmentalists. If they had, we would be well on our way to energy independence. An energy independent United States would be not only good for us, but for the rest of the world as well. I have always said that a strong United States (politically, economically, and militarily) is ultimately good for the rest of the world. Becoming energy independent does not mean that this nation would abandon our position as the world police. It will allow us to be an even greater influence for good in the world. Any American that believes otherwise has simply chosen to be unwise.

The Middle East is the epicenter of global unrest and that makes it the biggest threat to Americans since we are being targeted for Islamic hatred … if Israel were eliminated that would not change. The events in the Middle East have captured our attention and, to a certain extent, we’ve become somewhat less concerned with other global issues, dangers, and enemies that still confront us. Our debt to China is looming like a hurricane ready to make landfall. Europe is broke and violence has erupted there for the same economic reasons that has caused the rioting and demonstrations in Egypt. Islamists are taking advantage of that unrest … they aren’t letting ala Rahm Emanuel “a crisis go to waste”.

Now, after stating all of the above, there is a flip side. If Egypt can repel an Islamist take-over of the reigns of government and defeat the Islamic Brotherhood in free and open elections, then that will be a major defeat to the radicals in the country. If a more liberal (that’s right, I said liberal) government emerges that supports the same inalienable rights that our founding fathers embraced respecting the rights of religion, speech, and of the press, the entire region will take notice. An Egypt that is still at peace with Israel will be at peace with the United States.

My hope is for the latter. The nations of the region don’t have to change or alter their long held beliefs and customs, but they do need to enter the modern age and end the never ending wars that have plagued them.

WOW what a beginning of 2011!

There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.

Eddie