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The Spectacle Blog
Today marks my second appearance on “Crosstalk,” a Russian English language television show. (I’ve also posted video of my first appearance below.)
Much of the show’s conversation focused on American and Western involvement in Egypt. “Does the Middle East need more intervention or does it need less intervention from the outside?” asked the show’s host, Peter Lavelle.
Ramzi Baroud, editor of PalestinianChronicle.com, and Huffington Post contributor Taufiq Rahim argued for “less intervention.” The United States, Baroud said, has been a force for oppression and injustice in Egypt and the Middle East and should just leave the people there alone.
It is true that, in the past, the United States has too often worked closely with, and made excuses for, autocrats such as Mubarak. We have done this in the ostensible interests of political expediency, and too often this has been a mistake.
After all, as Rahim rightly observed, and as Fouad Ajami also points out, two of the 911 terrorists, Mohamed Atta and Ayman Zawahiri, are products of Mubarak’s Egypt.
“We had befriended him [Mubarak], but enraged his population,” Ajami writes. “The jihadists who hadn’t been able to overthrow Mr. Mubarak had struck at American targets instead.”
But as Ajami also notes, George W. Bush and his “freedom agenda” “can definitely claim paternity” for the Egyptian uprising and the larger-scale democratic wave that is now sweeping the Middle East and North Africa.
One despot fell in 2003. We decapitated him. Two despots, in Tunisia and Egypt, fell; and there is absolutely a direct connection between what happened in Iraq in 2003 and what’s happening today throughout the rest of the Arab world.
Moreover, I think you could argue that one important reason Tahrir or Liberation Square did not become a bloodbath a la the French and Russian Revolutions is precisely because of American support for the Egyptian military, which amounts to more than $1.3 billion annually.
Even more importantly, key Egyptian military officers have studied, and continue to study, at U.S. military schools and service academies. Egyptian military units also conduct joint training exercises with their American counterparts.
Thus, the Egyptian military has learned and seen firsthand how the world’s top military behaves and interacts vis-à-vis its civilian overseers and the populace.
So, as a practical matter, the United States is involved in Egypt and will remain involved there for some time. The question is: how can American be a force for positive, liberal democratic change in Egypt?
We don’t, after all, want to see the Egyptian revolution hijacked by the Islamists and the extremists. We don’t want to see it go awry as have other revolutions (most recently and most notably Iran’s 1979 revolution).
For these reasons, I think, it behooves the United States to exercise all elements of national power — political, economic, cultural and military — to move history, in Egypt and elsewhere, in a liberal democratic direction.
View all comments (15) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by John R. Guardiano
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/02/14/should-the-united-states-inter
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Floyd Looney | 2.14.11 @ 6:38PM
I am not sure we should do anything but end all foreign and military aid to Egypt and then refuse to sell them spare parts for F-16's and M-1 tanks.
Occam's Tool| 2.14.11 @ 8:44PM
I'm a huge fan of fused glass if the Brotherhood takes over.
kingsmill| 2.14.11 @ 10:44PM
JG had better re-think his opposition to DADT. His chicken hawk imperialism is going to require much cannon fodder.
Bob K.| 2.15.11 @ 7:55AM
Mr. Guardiano,
After reading the last paragraph I don't think I need to waste 26 minutes watching your video in this blog.
I do not think that one single member of the United States Armed Forces should be put into harm's way in this typical muslim despotism.
Learn something about democracy before you begin instructing your readers about "moving history" (as if we were able to do something like this!) ....."in a liberal democratic direction."
I recommend "DEMOCRACY AND POPULISM Fear and Hatred" by Professor John Lukacz. Published (remarkably) as recently as 2005.
Bob K.| 2.15.11 @ 8:00AM
The Professor's surname is spelled Lukacs-not Lukacz. My apology for the error.
All American American| 2.15.11 @ 8:41AM
I say Guardiano and all the other neocons should go to their local Army Recruiting Center and enlist. Tell the recruiter you want to be part of the Neocon NationBuilding Brigade and go to Egypt. While there you can teach all the practioners of the religion of peace all about Thomas Jefferson and representative govt and all men are created equal and stuff. I'm sure they're all just THIRSTING for that. *eyeroll*
Hey after Egypt where should we send out military next to die for islam? Do we wait until they stop executing Christian converts in Afghanistan before we go to Egypt or what? Or maybe if they can go 10 days without a suicide bomb attack in Iraq, we'll pull out and go to Egypt?
Good Lord Amspec you really need to post Guardiano's columns under the heading "Comedy Relief."
John Guardiano | 2.15.11 @ 10:16AM
All American American (so-called),
Thanks for the advice. I actually enlisted after September 11, 2001. But I chose the Marine Corps, not the Army, because it is the "first to fight."
It's easy to be a skeptic, but what would you have the United States do re Egypt and the Middle East? What is your recommended course of action? Other, I mean, than to roll your eyes and feign greater wisdom and insight than you actually possess?
Regards,
John
Handy| 2.15.11 @ 10:47AM
Mr. Guardiano,
Thanks for your service, however brief it was. Marines in the Mid-East generally provide base security while the Army actually goes "outside the wire."
What you don't seem to understand is that many of us, like All American, are sick and tired of our overseas meddling (and funding). This is especially true when the rules of engagement make victory difficult, if not impossible. And, all of your happy-faced nation-building diplomatic "initiatives" are doomed to failure also. The USA should wish the people of Egypt well, but stay out of the way. Otherwise, we will get blamed for any failures.
Pardon me if I don't take your opinions on these matters very seriously. You are young and impetuous, whereas I am old and wise. BTW, I signed up at the peak of the Tet Offensive.
John Guardiano | 2.15.11 @ 1:56PM
Handy,
I salute your service; Semper Fi. But with all due respect, you have no idea what you're talking about re the Marine Corps in Iraq and the Middle East.
My service is modest and pales in comparison to that of many other Soldiers and Marines. But I assure you that we Marines went "outside the wire" every day, consistently, for weeks and months on end.
I wish we could ignore the rest of the world, but alas we cannot. In this day and age of instantaneous communication and international travel, what happens elsewhere affects us.
We learned this lesson definitively -- or at least we should have learned this lesson definitively -- on September 11, 2001.
Regards,
John
Sean| 2.15.11 @ 4:14PM
What we learned on that day is not to let muslims into this country unfortunately we have not practiced that lesson. If any country should have been invaded after 9/11 it would have been saudi arabia.
There is no need to invade or meddle in a country to prevent their radicals from harming ours.
All American American| 2.15.11 @ 11:40AM
Mr Guardiano, the "alleged, self-proclaimed" Marine,
When you allegedly enlisted I had 13 years on Active Duty. I recently retired. I see you "got out" of the Marines and are now writing naive comedic bits for Amspec. Congrats.
Anyway what would I do? Well there John its not as simple as what to do in Egypt. There's a muslim problem. Been that way for 1400+ years. However number one I would cease to recognize islam as a "religion" and call it what it is, a political ideology bent on world domination through terror, murder, and war. I was hoping we would have figured this out on 9/11, but we didn't. (As an aside when GWB said on 9/20 that "islam is a religion of peace" I pretty much deflated, turned to my wife and said, "we lost.")
I would also cease immigration from islamic countries. Ya know what's kinda weird, and nobody in the media--mainstream or "conservative"-- even wrote anything about it? After 9/11 immigration from darn near EVERY islamic country on earth DOUBLED to the USA. I looked up the tables myself. Hmm. Why would that be?
No more mosques on US soil. In WWII we would not have allowed Nazi training centers in our country, but we allow jihadist breeding grounds and training camps in our country today. Dumb.
For every one that they kill I kill 1,000 of them. For any ensuing attack I add a zero to that number.
Finally I tell them look, you wanna believe islam is a "religion," fine. Go worship your moon god but keep your murderous practices to the confines of your craphole countries. You export your terrorism, your protests, your honor killings, your jihad attacks, we will destroy you.
Thats my "nutshell" solution. No more "nuanced" approaches to islam. I mean how can you expect "nuance" to work with a culture where a majority of its people are illiterate and live in caves and tents and huts? With a culture that believes its perfectly acceptable to mutilate little girls' genitals? With a culture that thinks its A-OK to let girls burn in a building because to let them escape the fires without their hijabs would be a "sin?" with a culture that believes converts from islam should be put to death? How can we expect to export enlightened, 21st-century thinking to a people who would rather take the entire world back to the 7th (century)?
Read the koran. Read the traditions (but a guy who has such great wisdom probably has, right?). *BIG eyeroll* Read some contemporary, non-apologist biographies of the "prophet" muhammed. Read Jesus' words in the Gospel and compare those to the "prophet's." Then ask yourself why would God say one thing through Jesus and less than 600 years later completely change his message? Why would Jesus warn us to beware of false prophets, and tell us that no one will come after Him, if less than 600 years later there needed to be another prophet? Why would Jesus say he was sent not to change the law but to fulfill it, but then less than 600 years later God--wait for it--changed everything about the law through this "prophet?"
Ask yourself why would God promise never to abandon his chosen people, Israel, but then muhammed's god, allegedly the same God of the Bible, wants to kill all the Jews? I dunno about you but I ask myself, "Self, who would want to kill God's chosen people? Self, who would inspire humans to carry out the destruction of God's chosen people?"
The answer seems fairly obvious to me (but that could be me "feigning greater wisdom" again, *chuckle chuckle*). I'm sure a superdy-duperdy smart guy like you can come up with perfectly reasonable, plausable answers to those questions though.
All American American| 2.15.11 @ 3:15PM
Oh, forgot one thing. John, as an All American American I have to tell you that no self-respecting American, let alone one making a (unsubstantiated) claim to be an ex-Marine for Gawd's sake, signs off on correspndence using "regards." Makes you sound like some tea-sipping and crumpet-nibbling Euro-weenie.
Just lookin' out,
Triple-A
Ken (Old Texican)| 2.15.11 @ 11:14AM
Mr. Guardiano,
I have been a little rough on you lately. Please forgive my terseness at times.
The problem I just cannot get around is the juxtaposition of the terms "Democracy" and "Muslim" in the same day, much less in the same sentence.
Sometimes I find myself praying that non murderous Mulims get ONE opportunity to vote...
...Before the Judgement bar of God.
All American American| 2.15.11 @ 3:10PM
Ken, muslims are fine and dandy with "democracy," as long as it is something like:
- 10 muslim men and 1 muslim woman voting on which adulterer to stone
- A gang of muslim teens voting on which Swedish 14 y/o to rape
- Egyptian islamists deciding which Coptic Christian church to destroy
See there? Muslims love democracy just as much as we do!!!
Anyway, instead of "democracy" why don't we spread Jeffersonian Republicanism in the ME?
(I gotta run--gotta go buy that health insurance the gubmint says I have to buy at risk of fines or jail, then do my "voluntary" income taxes so gubmint can take my money and give it to some welfare queen on billion-dollar Wall St bank, then I have to change my toilet cuz it uses too much water when it flushes, oh and get rid of all my Edison-bulbs for mercury-infused curly bulbs, etc. Oh, and I gotta go pay my ticket for using too much salt in a NYC restaurant. Ain't American democracy GRAND?????).
Hmmmm, come to think of it, mebbe we should re-spread some Jeffersonian Republicanism HERE first, before we commit blood and wealth trying to do same in money pits AKA muslim countries? Eh, that's CRAZY talk!!!!!
joesixpack31| 2.18.11 @ 2:39AM
In resaponse to the question: "Should the United States ‘Intervene' in Egypt?" FUCK NO !!" This asshole in the Whitehouse cannot even perform the duties of his office responsibly. What the hells he stickin his nose in over in Egypt for? If anyone needs to "step down", it's obama and the menagerie he brought with him.