Guardian: "In a forceful statement Obama came off the fence"

[impik]

"Hosni Mubarak has still not grasped how fundamentally the old political order is changing in Egypt and the Arab world – but it seems Barack Obama has.

In a forceful statement after the Egyptian president’s latest exercise in reality denial, Obama came off the fence following a fortnight of humming and hawing. If the choice is revolution or repression, democratic ideals and values or hard-nosed self-interest, then the US is officially on the side of the angels.

This dramatic shift could in time have a bigger impact on the Middle East than the Egyptian uprising. In sharply criticising the Cairo government’s prevarications, demanding it respect universal values, and stressing that his administration stands shoulder to shoulder with the demonstrators in Tahrir Square, the US president dramatically changed the way his country does business in the region. This was, to all intents and purposes, the proclamation of an Obama doctrine".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/11/egyptian-protests-obama-doctrine

[Buzz Clik]

1. This should satisfy those who criticize Obama for "supporting" Mubarak.

:rofl:

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Kinda like Argentina joining the Allies in WW II.

In 1945.

[ret5hd]

3. exactly

[Arkana]

4. We hates him, Precious, yes, yes we does.

[Sinistrous]

9. Not really.

Especially because Obama announced his position before Mubarak resigned.

This was hardly anything like the Argentina/WWII issue.

[impik]

8. They have no clue. They are seriously ignorant.

Obama is bringing Democracy to Egypt without firing one bullet, without bullying and without providing anyone the excuse to say that America meddled in other country's business.

The Professional Left is a joke, no wonder no one takes them seriously anymore.

[Beacool]

13. Obama is bringing democracy to Egypt???????

Overreaching much? This is as bad as stating that Reagan brought down the Soviet Union. The people of Egypt are the ones who will bring their own version of democracy to the country.

[Skittles]

18. tell me Beacool

do you find them amusing or scarily naive? :o

[Hello_Kitty]

19. Just last week we were told Obama had nothing to do with it.

Today, he is bringing Democracy to Egypt.

Stuff goes well, he gets the credit.

Stuff doesn't go well, totes not his fault.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

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[Jennicut]

5. To me, this whole thing is not really about Obama. I am glad he made the statements he did.

But this ultimately rested in the hands of the Egyptian people. They stood strong for 17 days. They deserve immense credit for bringing Mubarek down. Per MSNBC, Obama, Biden and Hillary were all in discussions back and forth with the military and the VP. They really didn't have the total influence to get Mubarek out, the people (and the military) did. Obama, to me, did the best he could. Mubarek finally did the right thing and should just be glad he still has his life. Some revolutions are much, much more bloody.

[Arkana]

6. Pretty much.

This thing was a dangerous dance--if we outwardly propped up the protesters Mubarak would have sent in tanks to mow them down under the pretext that the protest was bought and paid for by the West.

The people of Egypt needed to make it happen, and they did. Congratulations to them.

[Kber]

7. Hope springs eternal

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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[ReggieVeggie]

11. does the original poster have no input?

I'd like to know wht impik thinks of the use of the phrase "off the fence"

[Exilednight]

12. I wouldn't exactly call Obama's statement forecful. It was more of him

putting his finger to the political winds and detecting the change in direction.

Let's see what Obama does when the winds begin to shift in other middle-east dictatorships like Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Kuwait.

[JoePhilly]

15. A week ago, some on DU were saying that Obama was ensuring ...

that Mubarak would stay in power because Obama was not being forceful enough.

Some on DU claimed that when Obama said the transition needs to start "now", that this was really code for "never".

Now that Mubarak has stepped down ... the winds have shifted alright ... and many who claimed Obama was ensuring that Mubarak would stay in power are now claiming that Obama did nothing whatsoever to influence the outcome that we all wanted to see. Go figure.

Yes, the winds do blow. But the determination of just who is spinning in that wind, is up for debate.

[Exilednight]

16. I don't know who the "some" are that you're talking about, but I wasn't one of

them. Obama straddled the fence and all he has to show for it is sore feet and the promise that the military will keep our secrets about our outsourced tortured.

[JoePhilly]

17. I know ... no one saw any of what I described.

You may not have been one of them and I did not suggest you were.

But if you have been a regular reader of DU during the last three weeks, reading threads and comments about Egypt, then what I described should be easy to recall.

You may have missed it.

As for the "sore feet" and "torture" comment you make above ... hummm ...

As this unfolded, Egyptians were cheering Obama and the US, so I suspect that his feet feel just fine.

And so now what ... if the Egyptian military doesn't say that Obama used them to torture people, you see that as proof that Obama tortured people through them, right???

If the goal posts moved any farther, they'd be in a new stadium.

[Exilednight]

21. You don;t know about our rendition to Egypt?

You must live in a cave. Anyone who listens to MOR or left leaning media knows that we send high level terrorists through our extraordinary rendition program to Egypt.

Once there, the Egyptian military interrogates them without the CIA or US military sitting in, thus giving the US plausable denial, and turns over copies of Q&A to US intelligence.

You might be proof that ignorance is bliss.

[JoePhilly]

14. The Guardian wanted more bluster and saber rattling by the US??

Do they have no memory?

The overall article is fine, but the "fence sitting" parts misses the point. Many of our issues in the ME are in part to our direct actions or our threatening rhetoric. The Obama administration deliberately decide to not bluster or saber rattle, and the outcome speaks volumes for the utility of that approach.