Kristof: Let’s support the birth of democracy.

[babylonsister]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/opinion/06kristof.html?_r=1

Militants, Women and Tahrir Sq.
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: February 5, 2011

snip//

I asked an old friend here in Cairo, a woman with Western tastes that include an occasional glass of whiskey, whether the Muslim Brotherhood might be bad for peace. She thought for a moment and said: “Yes, possibly. But, from my point of view, in America the Republican Party is bad for peace as well.”

If democracy gains in the Middle East, there will be some demagogues, nationalists and jingoists, just as there are in America and Israel, and they may make diplomacy more complicated. But remember that it’s Mr. Mubarak’s repression, imprisonment and torture that nurtured angry extremists like Ayman al-Zawahri of Al Qaeda, the right-hand man of Osama bin Laden. It would be tragic if we let our anxieties impede our embrace of freedom and democracy in the world’s most populous Arab nation.

I’m so deeply moved by the grit that Egyptians have shown in struggling against the regime — and by the help that some provided me, at great personal risk, in protecting me from thugs dispatched by America’s ally. Let’s show some faith in the democratic ideals for which these Egyptians are risking their lives.

I think of Hamdi, a businessman who looked pained when I asked whether Egyptian democracy might lead to oppression or to upheavals with Israel or the price of oil. “The Middle East is not only for oil,” he reminded me. “We are human beings, exactly like you people.”

“We don’t hate the American people,” he added. “They are pioneers. We want to be like them. Is that a crime?”

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Take note, conservatroids

It's the common American people whom others around the world admire & seek to emulate - NOT the bloated plutocrats and capitalistas who would attempt to exploit people & environment alike. When they invoke a desire to be 'like Americans,' it's not your pasty backsides they're talking about.

[Avant Guardian]

2. This is a lead up to the GOP claiming the Iraq invasion led to all of this

Kristol will claim the democratic revolts happening now in the Middle East are a direct result of the 'liberation' of Iraq by the neocons. Mark my words.

It's what they do.