As President Obama covered various topics in his State of the Union Address, I watched him insinuating that U.S. intervention in Iraq possibly inspired people in surrounding nations to seek freedom too, offering the following statement: "The USA stands with the people of Tunisia, and supports the democratic aspirations of all people."
It was unfortunate this wasn’t qualified with an explanation of why the U.S. was a strong ally of the Tunisian dictator for the past 24 years, or why no word of condemnation came from Washington as Tunisian police were firing live ammunition at those freedom-aspiring demonstrators.
Déjà vu last week. Egyptian people took to the streets demonstrating peacefully, only to be met with U.S.-made tear gas canisters, para-military police and total internet and cellphone blackout.
The U.S. administration issued a fluffy statement calling all sides to show restraint. Vice Presdent Biden said Egypt’s president always served U.S. interests, therefore he cannot be a dictator.
Avoiding unsubstantiated opinion, here are few easily verifiable facts. The Egyptian regime imposed martial laws since 1982, enabling indefinite detention of any person without charge. Hosni Mubarak won five presidency terms with 89 percent being his lowest earned percentage of votes. Mubarak’s ruling party now holds 473 out of 518 seats in the parliament. This regime has to be either a dictatorship or the most popular regime on earth.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bassem Fadlia
Rochester
