5. Thousands of protesters marched Sunday on the presidential palace of Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Salih, who has ruled since 1978. The United States has increasingly forged a relationship with the Yemeni military aimed at destroying the alleged al-Qaeda operatives in that country.
Aljazeera English has video on Yemen:
4. After 3,000 protesters came out in Algiers on Sunday, organizers announced that they would hold rallies every Saturday in their quest for the resignation of President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika.
3. Fearful of a Palestinian uprising against it, the Palestine Authority in the West Bank is instituting some reforms. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has dismissed his entire cabinet in favor of a smaller, leaner body.
2. Clashes broke out Monday morning between police and demonstrators over the latter’s plans to hold protest rallies in Manama. Reuters has background.
1. Iran’s Green Movement and its plans for big rallies in Iran on Monday are raising regime fears that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards may split, on facing the prospect of attacking innocent civilians.
US interests are affected by each of these. Algeria is a petroleum producer, and supplies are tight, increasing the value of stability in each of the OPEC countries. Bahrain has a bit of oil but its main importance is as a US naval base. Yemen is an object of anxiety about al-Qaeda, with which Saleh has been cooperating. Iran is a major target of US foreign policy angst and any significant change there will affect the tenor of the debate in Washington.
The dawn of freedom in Yemen and Algeria is emerging. Revolution continue. A new era in which the people are the masters of their own destiny is on the horizon. The Pharaoh across the region are trembling in fear!!!!
Al Jazzeera is reporting that “a military source said the Supreme Military Council would issue an order on Monday that would ban meetings by labour unions or professional syndicates” and also that “…the army ordered Al Jazeera and other international media outlets to stop filming in the square.” These attempts to srengthen its control by denying free speech and media coverage can only backfire. It seems the military authorities are as determined to hang on to their power — and as clueless of the reality around them — as Mubarak. The revolution continues; long live the revolution!
“US interests are affected by each of these.” -J. Cole
More accurately, US capitalist corporations are affected by each of these. How is a typical worker in the US affected by any of these besides gas prices?
And, if oil supplies are tight why has the price of oil fallen over the past couple of weeks from above $90 to about $85 per barrel today?
I don’t understand America’s concern with Al-Qaeda. If I’m not mistaken, Al-Qaeda was been mostly successful due to the oppression that normal muslim populations face in thier respective countries by forces not within their control. When people feel like they’ve been pushed to a corner, more extreme measures are taken to find answers to their problems (i.e. terrorism or suicide bombing). If these people in Yemen or other Arabian countries are given their freedoms and able to have normal means of living, why would they resort to violence? The idea that Islam is inherently violent is the answer to only the looniest of Islamophobic adherents, so I don’t accept that as the answer.
I would be interested in knowing how Al-Qaeda fares in these countries that are ultimately able to find socioeconomic/political reform and justice from their respective dictators. Any thoughts, Dr. Cole?
No reform movement in Iran can get anywhere as long as it appears to effectively support US belligerence against Iran. The Green Movement is as fatally flawed as similar US-manipulated ‘democracy’ movements in Ukraine and Georgia have turned out to be.
And here is Joe sixpack Biden – the good friend of Mubarak ( correction of Israel):
link to courier-journal.com
Will the covert ops work this time around? Are they ready since the intelligence of both the US and Israel didn’t foresee Mubarak going down?
I wish the Egyptians well in their endeavour. I hope this doesn’t turn out like the Iranian revolution of 1978. THey got rid of someone bad and wound up with someone worse.
FAKE NEWS
A prediction: Israel will now work behind the scenes to promote right-wing, conservative, religious extremists in Arab nations — especially — Egypt both to
1. continue its long history of divide and conquer (or at least, divide and subdue) potential countervailing powers in the Middle East and
2. promote anti-Arab hysteria and racism in the United States — a key component of preserving the river of money flowing from the US to Israel.
I agree with both Epppie and Hugh Sansom. And I wish the protesters in Yemen the best, although I don’t hold out much hope for their success at this time. Yemen is a complicated case, the President’s got his brother, son and nephews running various branches of the military and security forces, so no sympathy there, and lots of tribes are living off the government teat.
The only thing that concerns me is that the people of these countries could feel really disappointed if they don’t achieve the economic prosperity they are fighting for because the road to democracy is often very hard and many problems have to be overcome in the process.