OH BOY.. DID THINGS TAKE A TURN FOR THE WORST OR WHAT???
I know I was going to talk about the technical / tactical side of the potential conflict between Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, but Egypt came blazing back onto the scene today and I think it's important to understand what happened and what it could mean.
Ok; let's get right down to it! In the world of international affairs, stacked on top of national strategic objectives, the US is in the process of blowing not only the Egyptian event but the Middle East as a whole.
Ok; there is plenty of blame to go around and before it is all said and done I would not be surprised to hear that some of this is "George Bush's Fault"! So, before we get hung up on the blame game, let's just level the playing field and say there is enough to go around for anyone who has a stake in the Middle East. Disclaimer now complete!!!
We, the US, blew it!!! The good news is, we have been "blowing it" in the Middle East for over fifty years so why should we suddenly change now? I find it amazing that just sixty days ago Mubarak was a " vital ally" of the US. You couldn't find anyone above the rank of file clerk or office buried analysis Nerd who would have spoken ill of Egyptian leadership. Today, I heard our leadership, and many others, paint a picture of a absolute "Monster" terrorizing the "good people of Egypt. Even more remarkable was the consistent drumbeat of "talking heads" saying this abuse had been going on for years!!! Um??? Where was this opinion up until the events of Tunisia? Did the West lose track of Mubarak? Did everyone lose his phone number or his email address??? Has no one in the US read the Egyptian newspapers for the past ten years? Hello!!! BS!!! We and everyone else ether knew the condition of Egypt, PS, I did and I'm just a dumb Cop, or we spent BILLIONS on Intelligence and the DoS and still can't see the hand in front of our face. I don't buy that excuse. We, the US and the West, knew exactly how much trouble Egypt was in and the direction it was heading. Perhaps we didn't foresee a Facebook lead event and Lord knows we strategically, continually, underestimate the social medias and their impacts on the day to day world.
Let's look in the mirror and understand why we, the US and the rest of the free world, were willing to let things get to this point. Here comes the shocker, because so far I know I must sound like a College Campus Tree Hugger, but I agree with why we were tolerant of conditions in Egypt and frankly elsewhere. We were tolerant because Mubarak was doing what had to be done to keep the Middle East from a Regional War! I have made this point in previous post, but here it comes again. The minute Israel is surrounded on her borders by her enemies, the odds of a regional war become more than frightening. Our, not just the US, remember my statement about enough blame to go around here, commitment to Mubarak and Egypt was based upon Egypt giving Israel the security comfort it needed to keep from lashing out at her enemies. One only has to look at why Israel would agree to give the Gaza to the Palestinians. Israel was assured the ability of her enemies to build a operational military force to her rear would be kept in check by Egypt. A concept that is now in question given the ability of Hamas.
Let me dumb this concept down !! We rebuilt Egypt's military after the disaster of the 1973 war on the agreement that Egypt assured the West they would no longer wage war on Israel and would insure Israel's border with Egypt was secure.
I heard a local radio station idiot yapping away today about how much money the US has spent on Egypt and the fact that we have nothing to show for it.
Ok. 1973 to 2011 and no regional war. No! Don't Count Desert Storm or Iraq. They are NOT regional wars.
What scares me are the people who can't figure out this simple truth. The US spent national treasure to prevent a war that could and would destabilize the entire Western Economy.
Lord, the 1973 conflict almost lead to a nuclear war. Yep. Read your history!!!
Now, everyone and their Brother is running around the US and Europe screaming that the poor people of Egypt deserve a free and democratic government.
Let me ask a simple yet some will say "heartless" question.
If a Democratic / free government in Egypt leads to a government that will not insure Israel's security and that leads to Israel striking at her enemies and that leads to five dollar a gallon gas and a collapse of the US economy, then where do we stand? At what price does Egypt come to their goal?
Is this an outrageous statement? I truly hope the people of this country don't think so.
Ok; How do we get out of this?
That's a topic for Friday night and Captain Morgan.
Hint; there is a way out of this.