REPORT: Five Arab Countries The ‘Jasmine Revolution’ May Spread To Next (guest post)

Brief, very informative and helpful, I thought:

Last month, the world was shocked as the Tunisian autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled his country for 23 years, was overthrown in a protest movement that lasted only 29 days. The event was soon dubbed the “Jasmine Revolution,” making references to a blooming flower. While many doubted that this revolution would spread, it was only days later that massive protests rocked Cairo, resulting in the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who had been in power for more than 30 years. While the fate of both countries is still unresolved, one thing is clear: the people are demanding democracy and they have forced massive changes in their government to get it.

Now, many are wondering if this pro-democracy movement that swept Tunisia and Egypt will spread throughout the rest of the Arab world. ThinkProgress has assembled a short list of other autocratic regimes in the region that are facing protests, particularly today, and which may soon be the next to go in the Middle East’s next “Jasmine Revolution”:

ALGERIA: Algeria’s has been in the iron grip of a military government since 1991, when the regime cancelled elections after an Islamist party won the first round. This set off a bloody civil war in the country, which peaked in violence between 1993 and 1997. In recent days, Algerians, inspired by their Tunisian and Egyptian neighbors, have organized large protest marches demanding democratic reforms. Today, despite officials outlawing the protest, nearly 10,000 people marched in Algiers anyway, facing off with three times as many riot police. Perhaps fearing that they will be the targets of the next revolution, Algerian officials recently announced that they will be lifting the country’s own emergency law — which has been in place for decades — in the “very near future.”

BAHRAIN: Bahrain’s Sunni leader, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, has long oppressed his country’s Shi’a-majority population. Last August, his ruling party arrested hundreds of Shi’a activists and shut down the main opposition party’s websites right before the parliamentary election, fearing that it may lose its grip on power. Yet recent events in the Middle East have the king fearing for his rule, too. He has ordered “a hike in food subsidies and reinstated welfare support for low-income families to compensate for inflation,” and plans to deliver a speech today where he will offer further concessions. Additionally, Bahrain’s government announced that it will be giving $2,650 to each Bahraini family yesterday. Yet pro-democracy activists plan to march Monday anyway, demanding real reforms in the country.

JORDAN: Likely also fearing a Tunisian-style revolution, Jordan’s King Abdullah sacked his government and appointed a new Prime Minister at the beginning of this month. Yet some of the largest protests in modern history have rocked the nation in recent weeks, indicating that Jordanians do not see the concessions as enough. In perhaps a sign of the regime’s weakness, President Obama dispatched Adm. Mike Mullen, the head of Joint Chiefs of Staff, to meet with Abdullah this weekend.

SYRIA: Earlier this month, protesters planned a “day of rage” where they would protest their grievances against the unelected president Basher al-Assad. While the protesters ended up being few in number, the regime did deploy its security services in increased numbers across the country, visibly fearful of a protest movement like the ones in Egypt and Tunisia. The government also lifted a five-year ban on Facebook, in a move widely seen as appeasing a nascent protest movement.

YEMEN: The president of Yemen, “one of America’s foremost allies” in the region, promised to step down in 2013, as his people began to demonstrate against the ruling elite. Today, thousands of pro-regime demonstrators attacked anti-government demonstrators with clubs and knives, an eery parallel to an Egyptian tactic that failed to quell protests and destroyed the regime’s public reputation and international support.

An American abroad in Yemen captured the protests there, where Yemenis spontaneously erupted in protest and began marching to the country’s own iconic capital square — which is actually named Tahrir, just like Egypt’s. Watch it at the original link/post, below.

This list is far from comprehensive, as movements are being organized in a number of other countries such as Saudi Arabia and Oman. Whether these movements will ultimately be successful is unknown, but they symbolize a growing grassroots call for democracy that has been virtually unseen in the region. Given that the United States is a sponsor of many of the intelligence and military apparatuses of these countries and a close ally to their governments, we have not just an opportunity but a responsibility to work with the people towards a more democratic future.

However, for an alternative view on Algeria or Yemen going democratic, you might check out this link, which is briefer yet but helpful and possibly more immediate and up to date:  http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/algeria-yemen-governments-dont-go-get

Have a great weekend, y'all.  Think good thoughts.


Link to original post:  http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/12/report-five-arab-states/

Huh. Democracy breaking out in the Middle East. Imagine that

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.)

Links:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_jordan_cabinet;_ylt=AjOSiPYSSaj9bz2VwIGwfkHuOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTJ2Y3Y0NXQ0BGFzc2V0Ay9zL2FwL21sX2pvcmRhbl9jYWJpbmV0BGNjb2RlA21wX2VjXzhfMTAEY3BvcwMyBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDam9yZGFuc2tpbmdm

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2011/01/28/if-egypt-falls-syria-must-follow/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/27/yemen-protesters-demand-change-government

A person from Time Magazine's "100 List" you should particularly know about

From Time Magazine's cover story, "100 Most Influential People in the World", there is one person who, it seems to me, we particularly need to know about, so we can learn from her story and change more things for females in the world:

Reem Al Numery

Al Numery was forced to marry her 30-year-old cousin when she was only 12, and her own father threatened to murder her when she fought back and ran away. Yemeni officials refused her petition for a divorce, and she was unable to attend a ceremony in her honor in the U.S. because she was forbidden to leave her home country. "While my hair was styled for the ceremony, I thought of ways to set fire to my wedding dress," she said. "When I protested, my dad gagged me and tied me up. After the wedding, I tried to kill myself twice." She was finally granted a divorce from the Yemeni legal system and is an advocate for ending child marriage. In her tribute in Time, feminist leader Gloria Steinem describes Reem "one of the brave girl children who are risking everything to protest being sold into marriage by fathers and becoming the endangered and uneducated chattel of husbands."

Link to original post here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts1847