Post-revolution polls in Egypt

[Virus]

The insurgents lost.

 

[DC]

The insurgents lost.

doesn't change what Geni said.

 

[Johny2x4]

The insurgents lost.

Do you only have empty one liners every time someone challenges your worldview?

 

[A'isha]

How the Iraq War has Empowered Iran:

The contrast between Ahmadinejad’s triumphal reception and Cheney’s furtive and fortified stopover speaks volumes about the strategic legacy of the Bush Administration’s decision to use military force to remove the bloody dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Of the many American illusions and delusions surrounding this war, the Administration’s calculations with respect to Iran were among the most wildly off base. Instead of generating a liberal, secular democracy whose reverberations would drive out Iran’s clerical oligarchs, the disastrous Bush policies fostered a sectarian Iraq that has helped empower Iranian hardliners. Rather than serving as an anchor for a new era of stability and American preeminence in the Persian Gulf, the new Iraq represents a strategic black hole, bleeding Washington of military resources and political influence while extending Iran’s primacy among its neighbors.

Official: Iran stands ready to expand defensive ties with Iraq

Iran is prepared to expand military and security cooperation with neighboring Iraq, a top Iranian military official said -- a week after U.S. forces pulled out of Iraq.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to establish, boost and expand all types of military, defense and security cooperation with the friendly and brotherly nation of Iraq," Iran's armed forces chief of staff Hassan Firouzabadi said, according to a report Sunday by the semi-official Fars news agency.

The Middle East neighbors have enjoyed closer ties in recent years, especially as Iraq's Shia Muslim majority has solidified its power in the absence of former leader Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim. Iran's theocracy is Shia-led.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/01/02/iraq-violence-politics-idINDEE80107420120102

Iraqi Finance Minister Rafie al-Esawi, a prominent Sunni Muslim politician, escaped unharmed when a roadside bomb exploded near his car and wounded two of his security guards, his office and a health official said on Monday.

Esawi is one of the leaders of the Sunni-supported, cross-sectarian Iraqiya political bloc, ensnared in a crisis triggered when Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sought the arrest of a Sunni vice president and the ouster of his own deputy, another prominent Sunni, last month.

The crisis threatens Iraq's fragile power-sharing government, a fractious alliance of Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions that has made little headway on legislation since it was formed a year ago.

 

[WildCat]

So basically, they´re only good until we need then and after that they become blood thirsty fascist dictatorship. Good to know you´re consistent.

He was always a fascist dictator, and we were happy to see him and the mullahs fight each other so they couldn't bother anyone else.

 

[WildCat]

It has been considerably strengthened. With Iraq out of the game and the US having used a lot of blood and treasure in the process Iran's position is stronger than ever. Throw in all that info they got on how to make life difficult for the US military from the Iraqi insurgency and things are looking pretty darn good. About the only downside from their POV is that the Taliban is on the rise again.

So you think we should have supported Saddam instead of removing him?

 

[A'isha]

So you think we should have supported Saddam instead of removing him?

There are an awful lot of foreign policy options between "bankrolling his invasion of a country we're mad at" and "deposing him militarily and occupying his own country for the better part of a decade".

 

[Virus]

There are an awful lot of foreign policy options between "bankrolling his invasion of a country we're mad at" and "deposing him militarily and occupying his own country for the better part of a decade".

Most of them were tried.

 

[WildCat]

There are an awful lot of foreign policy options between "bankrolling his invasion of a country we're mad at" and "deposing him militarily and occupying his own country for the better part of a decade".

Like 12 years of economic sanctions, no-fly zones, etc?

 

[Kestrel]

Like 12 years of economic sanctions, no-fly zones, etc?

The combined effect was to make Saddam a paper tiger. No longer a military threat to his neighbors or to the US.

 

[Virus]

The combined effect was to make Saddam a paper tiger. No longer a military threat to his neighbors or to the US.

There were some rather large problems associated with the economic embargo on Iraq. The corruption in the UN and the regime using the Western left to pressure governments to lift it. Saddam continued to violate the terms of the ceasefire agreement. Then of course 9/11 happened and regime change in Iraq was part of the wider strategy in the War on Terror.

 

[Johny2x4]

There were some rather large problems associated with the economic embargo on Iraq. The corruption in the UN and the regime using the Western left to pressure governments to lift it. Saddam continued to violate the terms of the ceasefire agreement. Then of course 9/11 happened and regime change in Iraq was part of the wider strategy in the War on Terror.

And how that worked out in reducing terrorism? Must be why there no car bombings in Iraq..oh wait.

 

[bikerdruid]

Then of course 9/11 happened and regime change in Iraq was part of the wider strategy in the War on Terror.

you look good in tinfoil.

 

[geni]

So you think we should have supported Saddam instead of removing him?

Really depends on what your objectives are. I mean if your goal was mearly to remove him there were far cheaper and quicker options as britian demonstraited back in the 1940s. If your aim was to spend $1 trillion to try and bring freedom and democracy to the world then election observers in africa and an invasion of Equatorial Guinea would probably have given you a better rate of return.

 

[bikerdruid]

Really depends on what your objectives are. I mean if your goal was mearly to remove him there were far cheaper and quicker options as britian demonstraited back in the 1940s. If your aim was to spend $1 trillion to try and bring freedom and democracy to the world then election observers in africa and an invasion of Equatorial Guinea would probably have given you a better rate of return.

seems like saddam and democracy were more excuses than reasons.....hmmmm.

 

[Arcade22]

And here it thought democracy was about what The People voted for. But then again most of you democrats only seem intent on supporting democracy out of convenience and not out any honest and sincere respect for others wishes.

If the Egyptians want a 'moderate Islamist' government (which just seems like a form of Christian Democracy, but you know, Islamic) who are you, or anyone else for that matter, to object?

 

[Virus]

The Germans voted in Nazis. I think a lot of people were right to be concerned about that.

 

[marksman]

And here it thought democracy was about what The People voted for.

Democracy is about what the people want. And civil rights and the rule of law are about limiting the will of the people to respect the rights of the minority. There is nothing wrong with objecting to a diminution of the latter, even if it is consonant with the former.

 

[Puppycow]

The Muslim Brotherhood are now the moderates with tacit US backing.

In Egyptian Hard-Liner’s Surge, New Worries for the Muslim Brotherhood (NY Times)

CAIRO — Hazem Salah Abu Ismail is an old-school Islamist.

He wants to move toward abolishing Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel and cites Iran as a successful model of independence from Washington. He worries about the mixing of the genders in the workplace and women’s work outside the home. And he promises to bring extraordinary prosperity to Egypt, if it turns its back on trade with the West.

He has also surged to become a front-runner in the race to become Egypt’s next president, reconfiguring political battle lines here. His success may help explain why the United States offered signs of tacit approval over the weekend when the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest Islamic group, broke its pledge not to field its own candidate.

With a first round of voting set for late May and a runoff in mid-June, the first presidential race here since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak last year is shaping up as a battle among Islamists.

"And he promises to bring extraordinary prosperity to Egypt, if it turns its back on trade with the West."
It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.
Getting women out of the workplace isn't going to help the economy either.

 

[Puppycow]

Here's what the most recent poll says:

Out of the voters who had already made up their mind, Mubarak's foreign minister and former Arab League chief, Amr Moussa, remained on top with 31.5 per cent of the votes. However, this is down 10 per cent from last year. In the October survey Moussa secured 41.1 per cent.

Second on the list is Salafist candidate Hazem Salah Abu-Ismail who received 22.7 per cent of the votes, which is five per cent less than last October.

There will be a run-off of the top two candidates, but 58% say they prefer an Islamist to win.