Fiamma Nirenstein: Obama is a bull in a mideast china shop
Italian based writer Fiamma Nirenstein has said that Obama shouldn't be trying to influence Egypt's current situation, or act as though he understands anything about it:
US president Obama should stop making a mess in the Middle East and changing his position twice in two days around the most serious situation facing world peace—the future of Egypt. He should stop using Absolute Good as his point of reference, instead of the good of his country and of the rest of the world which, behind the US, believes in freedom, free market, monogamy and rights of women. What does he think he’s playing with? What kind of information has Mrs. Clinton when she tells us, “It doesn’t matter who's in power [however, who knows, maybe Mubarak will pull through, she seems to be hinting—ed.], the point is how we respond to the legitimate needs and complaints of the Egyptian people". Fine, but does Obama—who in offering this line after a number of hours of uncertainty, dumped his long-time ally, his point-of-reference in the Arab world —know that among the “complaints”, the toughest ones (commonly seen in the streets) are not only against Mubarak, but against the US and Israel, and the Western world in general? Does he know that this great revolution in the streets, that according to our cultural parameters has something to do above all with social issues, must instead be evaluated in terms of a completely different Islamic and Arab culture? Or must we continue to pretend that the crowd in the squares is only talking about bread and job?Well put, and Hilary Clinton should stop acting as though she's fit to deal with the situation too. They're not qualified at all.
Labels: Egypt, islam, Israel, United States
