Egypt and Arab States circle toilet bowl

[Fair&Balanced]

I agree completely with you about Iraq and the role of Halliburton and Blackwater.

I even agree with to some extent with Afghanistan and propping up the current corrupt regime.

Where I think the US can be most successful is along the model of Bosnia and now Libya, as part of a broad coalition and with a self-limiting role to protect civilians and/or support popular movements against oppressive governments but not to the extent of invading and occupying.

[Uday]

Originally Posted by Fair&Balanced

I agree completely with you about Iraq and the role of Halliburton and Blackwater.

I even agree with to some extent with Afghanistan and propping up the current corrupt regime.

Where I think the US can be most successful is along the model of Bosnia and now Libya, as part of a broad coalition and with a self-limiting role to protect civilians and/or support popular movements against oppressive governments but not to the extent of invading and occupying.

Bosnia is better, yes, but still had problems with American mercenaries, such as KB&R.

America would find more gratitude if they followed the French model from the revolutionary war; go in, take out the bad guy, and then leave immediately. It is when the nation being "helped" is subjected to "provisional governments" and "stabilization" that problems begin.

[Fair&Balanced]

Originally Posted by Uday

Bosnia is better, yes, but still had problems with American mercenaries, such as KB&R.

America would find more gratitude if they followed the French model from the revolutionary war; go in, take out the bad guy, and then leave immediately. It is when the nation being "helped" is subjected to "provisional governments" and "stabilization" that problems begin.

Building a new democracy takes more than just taking out the bad guy.

I lean towards looking at the US foreign policy in broad term using a combination of diplomacy, military assistance, intel assistance, economic aid, and other means that will help a democratic government take root and have the capacity to succeed.

Unlike the neo-con approach to foreign policy, there is no one right mix of all the above. Each engagement requires a different approach.

[Uday]

Originally Posted by Fair&Balanced

Building a new democracy takes more than just taking out the bad guy.

I lean towards looking at the US foreign policy in broad term using a combination of diplomacy, military assistance, intel assistance, economic aid, and other means that will help a democratic government take root and have the capacity to succeed.

Correct me if I am wrong, but America did not require the French to stay. You succeeded in far worse conditions with none of the above, except diplomacy and ruinous loans.

[Fair&Balanced]

Originally Posted by Uday

Correct me if I am wrong, but America did not require the French to stay. You succeeded in far worse conditions with none of the above, except diplomacy and ruinous loans.

The world is a different place. I dont see the relevance in comparing circumstances in 18th century colonial America and 21st century Middle East.

[classicman]

and Europe .... Any dwellars there that can attest to this?

[Uday]

700 Club? That is like America's Muslim Brotherhood, yes? Crazy religious people who pretend to be semi-secular?

[Fair&Balanced]

I appreciate your perspective and wish you well when you go back home!

[Griff]

Well said, Uday.

[TheMercenary]

Or notion of Democracy and that of what the rest of the world thinks it to be are completely different. This string reinforces it.

[TheMercenary]

Let's see if Obama has the balls to cut the money....

Muslim Brotherhood Warns U.S. Aid Cut May Affect Egypt’s Peace Treaty With Israel

So far, the defiant response from Cairo has been attributed mostly to government figures with links to the deposed Mubarak regime, including the anti-Western minister for international cooperation, Fayza Abul-Naga. The military-appointed Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri – who also served during the Mubarak era – told reporters last Wednesday that the authorities “won’t change course because of some aid.”

But now the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), which won almost 50 percent of the seats in recent legislative elections and dominates parliamentary committees, is making its position clear, too.


Egyptians pass a police checkpoint near the Interior Ministry in Cairo on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Any U.S. aid cut to Egypt, top MB lawmaker Essam el-Erian told the pan-Arabic al-Hayat newspaper, would violate the U.S.-brokered 1979 peace agreement with Israel.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/musl...-treaty-israel

[TheMercenary]

Although never particularly popular in Egypt, the agreement kept the peace between the former foes for three decades and secured Egypt more than $1.3 billion in U.S. military and economic aid each year.

Save this and we could buy everybody birth control pills.

[glatt]

$1.3 billion is nothing compared to the costs of another middle east war. If we can keep buying peace for that small amount, I support it. I only wish we could have bought peace in Afghanistan and Iraq for a similar amount.

[TheMercenary]

I don't know, sounds a little too blackmailish for me. If nothing else we need to significantly reduce this kind of aid across the board.

[glatt]

Yes, it's ethically and morally questionable, but my portion of that amount works out to about the same cost as a cup of Starbucks coffee per year. I'm happy to pay that to avoid war. I'd up it to 3 coffees per year if I could have avoided war in Iraq and Afghanistan too. It's nothing.