First it was Yemen.
Then it was Syria.
Next up was Egypt, of course, against Hosni Mubarak.
Now it's Jordan, whose King Jordan just let go his cabinet.
Democracy seemingly breaking out in all these places in the Middle East and it wasn't because the US attacked them, blew them up and tried to "give them" Democracy.
More than 4,300 American soldiers gave their lives so we could spread Democracy in Iraq. We've committed the nation to, it's been estimated, 3 trillion dollars and now a huge debt burden.
But maybe, just maybe--and this is entirely possible--Democracy would have broken out in Iraq without the debacle the George W. Bush/Dick Cheney/Donald Rumsfeld/Paul Wolfowitz/Condoleeza Rice group selectively took us into.
Iraq has had an undercurrent of protests during and after Saddam Hussein's reign. With the current examples of citizens rebelling against their governments, it is entirely possible to the point of likely that the Iraqis could and would have brought down their own government.
Sure, it's second-guessing and arm chair quarterbacking but it is an entirely possible scenario.
It is yet further proof I believe, if even in retrospect, that we just shouldn't have attacked Iraq, all those years ago. (And for clarification, I protested the Iraq War before it took place.)
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Might also have helped if we hadn't decided that to win our financial and military support, being a dictator wasn't as important as being anti-communist.
Your logic is flawed. One could just as easily point the current events as proof that GWBush's strategic plan has been successful.
My logic is flawed only if you're an unabashed supporter of the mistake and tragedy that was and is the current Iraq War/occupation.
Examples of others who agree with what I proposed here, so you can see I'm not alone on this. These came out today, well after my post:
http://mattpayton.tumblr.com/
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/02/democracy-in-the-middle-east.html
Chris Bodener just said it in pictures.
There is nothing in the events of Iraq that would be instructional to Egyptians to finally get tired enough of Mubarak that they would start the protests they have. It's just not there.
I think Egyptians alone would say it was an uprising of their own choosing and creation, along with anyone else whose studied the region in the past 10 years and who've followed both Iraq and Egypt.
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