Middle East Uprisings - True Quest For Democracy Or Tribal Civil Wars?

I was just reading a very informative opinion piece from an op-ed editor of
the NYT called "Tribes With Flags". I don't always agree with Mr. Friedman's
views, but quite often, he demonstrates that he has put considerable thought
into his comments, and he offers sound advice to those who may be listening
to -- or reading -- his perspective. This particular piece poses some very
interesting questions regarding current uprisings in the Middle East. For
example, it asks whether they are truly fueled by a desire to achieve
democracy, or simply motivated by the desire of one tribe or sect to
overpower another. Are they in fact just tribal civil wars being disguised
as democratic uprisings?

He also offers one possible explanation concerning why so many Middle
Eastern and North African nations have been ruled by military dictators, or
other authoritarian heads of state over the decades. This is in fact one of
the topics that I likewise covered in one of my articles concerning Saddam
Hussein a number of years ago. Contrary to those people who believe that
democracy is the best form of government, is it possible that due to their
ethnic constitution, some countries of the Middle East in fact need strong
dictators just to hold them together? As I've asked before, as brutal as he
was, did Saddam Hussein know and understand something about his own people
that the American government did not, and which has taken them eight long
years to figure out? Read the op-ed and form your own opinion.



Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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