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egypt, jordan & saudi arabia are run by lapdogs
Jan 11, 2009 7:07 AM
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http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=29575
The Egyptian leadership has taken a hiding from the Arab street for its inaction over Israel's assault on the Palestinians. Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran have removed all gloves by publicly accusing Egypt's leadership of complicity in Israel's war on Gaza.
Not that the Arab street needed reminding of who supports who in the vicious Middle Eastern cycle of conflict. The Arabs are aware, albeit repressed, of the political landscape in the region. It is common knowledge that Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia (the Arab trio) form a pro-American axis of oppressive dictators whose primary interest is containing Iran's growing presence in the region.
Iran, on the other hand, has enlisted the support of Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas, and enjoys vast public support from the Sunni Arab world because its primary concern is much aligned with the sentiments of the Arab street ... upholding the Palestinian cause and combating American presence in the region.
The ability of Hezbollah to draw tens of thousands of demonstrators to the streets of Arab capitals, including Cairo, speaks more of Egypt's misconstrued fears than Hezbollah's popularity.
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maintain hope; pray for peace; work for justice.
"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
Martin Luther King Jr., Minister and Campaigner for Social Justice through Nonviolent Voluntary Action
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Re: egypt, jordan & saudi arabia are run by lapdogs
Jan 11, 2009 7:10 AM
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Israel is very unpopular in the Middle East. Egypt doesn't want terrorists crossing from Gaza into their country anymore than Israel
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We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
Winston Churchill
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Now in GODS country
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Re: egypt, jordan & saudi arabia are run by lapdogs
Jan 11, 2009 7:16 AM
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is common knowledge that Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia (the Arab trio) form a pro-American axis of oppressive dictators whose primary interest is containing Iran's growing presence in the region.
Saudi Arabia Dosent want to Bite the hand that feeds them.
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Re: egypt, jordan & saudi arabia are run by lapdogs
Jan 11, 2009 7:24 AM
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> is common knowledge that Egypt, Jordan and Saudi
> Arabia (the Arab trio) form a pro-American axis of
> oppressive dictators whose primary interest is
> containing Iran's growing presence in the region.
>
> Saudi Arabia Dosent want to Bite the hand that feeds
> them.
of course.
their royal family is in bed with the american royal family.
whatever happened to our fabled support of democracy?
--
maintain hope; pray for peace; work for justice.
"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
Martin Luther King Jr., Minister and Campaigner for Social Justice through Nonviolent Voluntary Action
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another quote from the article!
Jan 11, 2009 7:31 AM
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The division in the Arab world and fear of Iran has been present since the Iranian revolution 30 years ago. However, little attention to Tehran was needed as Saddam Hussein played the important role of Arab gatekeeper and contained Iranian expansion. The removal of Saddam gave way to Iran's desire to become the leader of the Arab/Islamic world, and quickly drew the immediate focus of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
Efforts to thwart Iran's advance became frantic and ill-conceived.
Plan A - Iraq
The US occupation of Iraq failed, the country dived into civil conflict, and Iranian-backed Shi'ites gained power. Eventually, too many hands became involved in the single pie. The Saudis backed Sunni radicals in order to counter the Shi'ite rise. Unfortunately, the Sunni radicals caused further complication for the US occupation as Al-Qaida-inspired groups were just as determined to inflict harm on the US.
The other dilemma was that Syria also held considerable influence over certain fragments of the Sunni community, mainly due to the tribal and family connections that transcend the Syrian-Iraqi frontier. Therefore, any attempt by Saudi Arabia to ferment total anti-Iranian/Shia resistance amongst Sunnis was severely limited.
Plan B - Syria
The Israel/US/Arab axis then turned its attention to Syria and Lebanon. Syria has long been viewed as Iran's right hand in the Arab world, giving Tehran a direct role in Arab affairs. Limiting Syria's power, the Arab trio believed, would ultimately constrain Iran.
Rafik al-Hariri, former Lebanese Prime Minister, was conveniently assassinated in 2005, prompting Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon and Syria's isolation from the international community. The Arab trio, along with Israel and the US, kept the heat on Damascus for subsequent years, with Assad only recently coming out of the frost courtesy of France.
The original aim was to topple the Alawite regime in Syria (a Shia offshoot sect) and replace it with a Saudi-backed Sunni leadership. Contacts were made with the arch enemy of Syria's Ba'ath rulers, the Muslim Brotherhood of Syria (not to be confused with the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt). The idea was to spark a Sunni revolt in Syria led by the Muslim Brotherhood, with the defective Abdel Halim Khaddam at its helm.
It failed. Syria's security tightened, its opposition groups were silenced, the Assad regime persevered, and Damascus came out of isolation whilst maintaining its anti-Israel stance.
Plan C - Lebanon
Lebanon had been delivered to Syria on a silver platter by the Americans after Damascus agreed to join the US-led coalition against Iraq in the first Gulf War. What ensued was 15 years of cohesive Syrian-Saudi rule over Lebanon, which brought the infamous Hariri family to power. Saudi money, via the late entrepreneur Rafik al-Hariri, would rebuild Lebanon using 1 million Syrian labourers. The Syrian-Saudi relationship brought relative calm to Lebanon, which appeased the Clinton administration who wanted Lebanon's squabbling silenced whilst he shifted the focus towards the Israeli/Palestinian front.
The only problem with this equation was Hezbollah, the only faction of Lebanon that was out of reach for the Saudis and Americans alike. Hezbollah, at the behest of Iran and Syria, maintained a threatening arsenal, and continued its campaign against Israel until South Lebanon was finally liberated in 2000.
Hezbollah was a real threat put on Israel's northern borders and exploited by Iran and Syria each time they felt a need to poke Israel or the US. Chopping off this arm would severely limit Iran's influence in the region and remove a key player that gave Syria a certain degree of flexibility in its engagements with Israel.
The Arab trio along with the United States backed an Israeli offensive that aimed to destroy Hezbollah in 2006, or at least weaken it enough to give firm control of Lebanon to America's proxies in the country.
It backfired. Hezbollah came out stronger, inflicted a significant blow to Israel's self-perception of military invincibility, strangled the pro-American Lebanese government by imposing a year-long political deadlock, and gave Syria and Iran a new-found confidence.
More importantly, Hezbollah won the praise of the Arab street, and for the first time, exposed the complicity of the Arab trio. The pro-American dictators in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan found themselves isolated in the face of overwhelming public popularity for their adversaries in Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.
Plan D (1) - Palestine
Riding on popularity and confidence after the Hezbollah victory in 2006, the Iranians/Syrians decided to make the next move. After a similar political impasse had paralysed the Palestinian territories, Hamas swept the Gaza Strip in 2007, removing Fatah from power and took absolute control of the tiny territory of 1.5 million Palestinians.
Israel was now confronted with the nightmare reality of having a Hezbollah to its north and south. For Egypt, its long-held fear that Iran's growing populism would reach the streets of Cairo was moving closer to reality. The Gaza Strip is on Egypt's doorstep, and its Hamas rulers retains deep ties to the party it evolved from ... the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt. Mubarak famously remarked after Hamas' revolt in Gaza that his country now "shares a border with Iran".
The Muslim Brotherhood forms the largest opposition in Egypt, and the Mubarak leadership has struggled to keep the lid on the Brotherhood's popularity, often resorting to oppression. Just as Hezbollah swept Beirut in May 2008 to force the pro-American government to yield, and Hamas forcefully evicted Fatah from Gaza, Mubarak feared an Iranian-backed scenario would soon be played on the streets of Cairo.
Hamas in the Gaza Strip is intolerable for Egypt and Israel, yet vulnerable. Iraq borders Syria and Iran. Lebanon borders Syria. Material support could sufficiently reach Hezbollah and the Iraqis, but Hamas in Gaza is isolated. Encircled by Egypt and Israel, both countries saw an opportunity to inflict maximum damage on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The Israelis and Egyptians attempted to starve the Gaza Strip by imposing a stiff blockade that has all but effectively destroyed Gaza's economy and created a humanitarian disaster.
Their aim was to create enough dissent at the living conditions in the dense territory that Gazans would revolt against Hamas without the Israelis or Egyptians lifting a finger. After two years of the blockade, the revolt never came.
--
maintain hope; pray for peace; work for justice.
"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
Martin Luther King Jr., Minister and Campaigner for Social Justice through Nonviolent Voluntary Action
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