Wrongfooted

[poliphilo]

For all that our journalists and politicians are always banging on about muslims, I don't remember anyone predicting the Arab revolution. Western leaders were so completely wrong-footed by it that their first reaction was to make cooing noises at the dictators- with Sarkozy going so far as to offer to help Ben Ali out by sending him some of his surplus riot police.

It was often said that the dictators were a necessary evil because they kept the mullahs down, but the uprisings- all of them- have been led by secular youth- with not a mullah in sight. It was also often said that Arabs are primitive (but noble) tribal folk who don't understand or want democracy...

Comments

[red-girl-42.livejournal.com]

American "journalists" are about 95% liberal, and mercilessly mocked Bush at the time for thinking that Middle Eastern countries could adapt to democracy.

Can you show examples of journalists mocking Bush for thinking that Middle Eastern countries could adapt to democracy? I don't recall this at all, but it's not like I read every news article so I certainly could have missed something like htat.

I do recall plenty of American liberals (myself included) mocking Bush for claiming his actions in Iraq were about liberating the oppressed people of that country (and about those WMDs that never materialized). There are lots of oppressive regimes around the world that Bush didn't give a damn about or spend billions of dollars to overthrow.

[veronikos.livejournal.com]

I respectfully decline to make your acquaintance.