WASHINGTON, D.C. Aug. 25 (DPI) – News today that Eqypt and the United Arab Emirates teamed up to bomb radical Islamists in Libya – apparently without informing the U.S. – was met with a collective “So What?” from legions of US readers.
The top ten reader posts attached to the news report on NYTimes.com repeated a widely held view that it’s plenty OK for moderate Arab countries to take some action against the aggressive expansion of extremist Islamists in the Middle East, with or without the approval of Washington.
The reader posts disagree, too, with the official US view that military action might be counterproductive:
Who cares if the US knew in advance, or not? They’re finally taking responsibility for themselves, so this is great news.
What is the administration complaining about? Egypt and the UAE did us a huge favor… They now own the potential civil war that will happen in Libya.
Don’t cheer, don’t jeer. Let’s wait and see what happens next. Don’t be optimistic, however, since no one has clean hands in this matter — except the U.S., and one wonders whether theirs are jam-smeared, too. Remember, Qatar backs anti-democratic Hamas. Egypt is hardly a democracy. The ISIS religionists are avidly anti-democratic. Thus we have bad guys trying to stop very bad guys even while one baddie, Qatar, backs another very bad guy, Hamas. Am I wrong? Then which of these countries or governments would you like to be part of? Oh, did I leave out Assad’s Syria? The Middle East is a mess, with one democracy, a handful of monarchies, and a passel of secular, tribal, clan, and religious dictatorships. No wonder, Obama is keeping hands off.
Your article says that the Americans are, well, not amused by the Arabs taking matters into their own hands. I believe quite the opposite to be true and necessary. Much as in WWII, it is required that those in the neighborhood rise up and join in the fight. A solution cannot be imposed from outside. It must come from within the people who live there, there must be local leadership. A coalition, allies all, must be created. Obama should be studying FDR, in 1939-40-41, at this point. The enemy, militarized Islam, is literally on the march. Good for Egypt and UAE for stepping up.
How arrogant of the Obama administration. “The United States, the officials said, was caught by surprise: Egypt and the Emirates, both close allies and military partners, acted without informing Washington or seeking its consent” Since when does Egypt or the UAE need Obama’s permission to strike a foe in their region of the world?
After spending a trillion dollars arming Iraq and Afghanistan, billions more propping up “friendly” regimes and monarchies across the middle east – it is indeed high time that those whose bejeweled heads will be the next to be displayed on a pike start owning this insanity. While isolationism is a fool’s errand, so is the perpetual US cavalry riding to rescue those who so far have lifted nothing heavier than money.