Arab Spring to Arab Fall: Chaos in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Iran and spreading

The breakout of protest throughout the Arab world beginning in late 2010 has become known as "The Arab Spring." In Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen, regimes were ousted and replaced. Hope abounded. Major protests rocked a dozen other countries.en.wikipedia.org...

Many in the Western world viewed these developments as initially positive. People being liberated from oppressive dictators. Victory for civil protest, victory for democracy.

Many may remember the Time man of the year being the protester.

The people are marching and the despots are falling. Therefore, this is the most profound period of post-Caliphatic history in the Arab-Islamic world.

www.opendemocracy.net...


I'm sure people here, who are bent to question, saw through the fallacy of liberation throughout the region. As time progressed, Syria became increasing violent in trying to hold power while Egypt and Tunisia elected Islamist governments.

Meanwhile, American military forces remained ever present throughout the region.

So, when a cheap movie gets passed around the Arab world that offends it's religion, things get serious. It is important to realize that this movie was only a minor spark in a powder keg of anti-Western sentiment.

So far, we've had an ambassador and consulates killed in Libya, a flag burned in Yemen, and violent protest in Egypt.

And for those who haven't heard, "Death to America" chants in Tehran.

From Al-Jazeera

In the Iranian capital, Tehran, up to 500 people protested over the issue chanting "Death to America!" and death to the movie's director, an AFP photographer at the scene said.

The rally, near the Swiss embassy that handles US interests in the absence of US-Iran diplomatic ties, ended peacefully two hours later.

As evidence of the past few years, these types of movements spread quickly throughout the region and crowds are more than willing to gather in a cause. For the most part here, the nation of Islam is how people identify themselves before nation-state.

These events represent a dangerous trend and radicalization could grow rapidly.

There have been numerous threads about the events of the past few days, so I'd like to try and make this one a little different by qualifying it as discussion of the events in the context of the past few years.

How do the protests of 2011 relate to these?

Are there covert forces sparking the fuse?

Where is it all heading?

I'd like to also point out how each movement has roots in Western developments. The spring was largely facilitated by social media tools invented and marketed by the West. And these protests are sparked by a Western movie.

www.washington.edu...

After analyzing more than 3 million tweets, gigabytes of YouTube content and thousands of blog posts, a new study finds that social media played a central role in shaping political debates in the Arab Spring.

The legacy of the Iraq war has people questioning the motives of Western involvement in the region. Clearly, the US feels the need to be involved in the affairs of Arabia.

Are they after more control, creating radicals to justify an increased presence?

Are there covert forces sparking the fuse? Where is it all heading?

My opinion only. Yes to the first. To the second, the liberation of Iran. With as little blood shed as possible, without an attack from Israel, and by the Iranian people. Many problems solved if this happens. UN gets to examine nuclear facilities and any weapon development ceases, if there is any. Israel can relax. The people of Iran can decide what kind of government/society they want, after a bit of housecleaning.

reply to post by Iamschist


There's an angle I haven't heard yet. Let's hope for that. But, these revolutions haven't proven to produce stable nations as yet and there have been anti-Western protests in Tehran today. It seems to me like the situation is trending toward conflict and not cooperation.

Maybe you're right. It's possible that the radical protests of the last few day's could lead to a stronger bounce back from those who favored, for the most part, peaceful protest last year. Let's hope that these irresponsible actions lead to a proportional response from more rational minds, who by most accounts out number the radicals.

I have to admit, part of me thinks all of this is intentionally leading up to a great Holy War between Christianity and Islam.

Islam has come to the West and become a friend that's outstayed its welcome. In many cities, they're demanding Sharia law, and even so far as recently, the demands in Norway for part of Oslo to be split off for Muslims to have a Sharia state.... in Norway. Make no mistake, this is regarded as a war for them already, one Ghadaffi thought they were winning as they where breeding out the Europeans fro their own countries.

These tensions are only going to get worse as the Islamic population grows in Europe more and more, so it's no surprise that things are getting more tense between our two ways of life.

reply to post by PatrickGarrow17


I got my idea from this post on another thread. At first I was skeptical but the more I have considered these ideas, I think there are more on that thread by this poster, the more it sounds plausible.

www.abovetopsecret.com...