Contradiction and Continued Suppression in the Middle East

Hi everyone!

While the United States prepares for its first Republican Party caucus in Iowa tomorrow – a reflection of the democratic processes upon which the country was founded but doesn’t always follow through on – turmoil in the Middle East continues.

In Syria, the Arab League delegation continues its lame duck observer mission while more and more criticism is launched at it from within the Arab world. On Sunday, the 88-member Arab Parliament, which has no real power over the Arab League beyond serving as a voice of reason, issued a statement calling for the end of the observer mission. Rather than preventing or ending the violent suppression of Syrian protesters, if anything, the observers have inadvertently increased the intensity of the government crackdown that has killed more than 5,000 people since the start of the uprising last March and 150 reported killed since the Arab League delegation arrived last Tuesday. The suspicion is that the only reason Assad agreed to the observer mission is so he can buy more time before more stringent outside sanctions are levied against his government.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, the process of democratic oppression continued yesterday as the military-led government further justified its raids on the offices of nonprofit organizations in Cairo.  Faiza Abu El-Naga, civilian cabinet official in charge of international relations, claimed that the raids were part of an ongoing investigation into the corruption of the Mubarak regime. The groups, Ms. Naga alleges, received funding without the knowledge of the Egyptian government, which directly—according to Ms. Naga—undermines it. Whether or not anyone really believes this is anyone’s guess, but the fear is that further raids on any organization that acts independently for the betterment of human rights in Egypt will soon be stifled altogether.

Over in Bahrain, violence overwhelmed the funeral of a 15-year-old protester who was killed on Saturday by a tear gas canister—fired by government troops—that reportedly struck him in the chest.  It’s no surprise that Bahrain’s Interior Ministry has denied these accusations. I continue to find it appalling that the U.S. continues to allow such injustice to go on in Bahrain for the sake of not offending or jeopardizing relations with Saudi Arabia. This is just another example of the U.S.’s contradictory approach to Middle Eastern politics. It is all very well for the Obama administration to support the democracy movement in Libya, for example, whose former leader was a decades-long thorn in the U.S.’s side. But because the U.S. relies on the Saudis to support and promote its Middle Eastern foreign policy, it will not publicly voice support for the Bahraini protesters out of fear of disturbing U.S.-Saudi relations. While the U.S. did criticize Saudi Arabia for sending in troops to put down the initial Bahraini protests last spring, the criticism felt half-hearted and done more from a sense of obligation than genuine concern.

At any rate, it is clear that what began a year ago and evolved into the Arab Spring is still ongoing. I think 2012 will continue to bring us tremendous change, not just in the Middle East but in Russia, Europe, and the United States as well. Whether that change is for the good or for the worse, is still anyone’s guess. Regardless, I’ll be watching closely.

Ciao.