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DarkSteven -> RE: Qaddafi unleashed/ Libya on fire (2/25/2011 5:56:24 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
American influence and options are very limited. The twin errors of support for the old order and the Israeli alliance have ensured that.
I don't know that I'd call them "errors". We were supporting whatever despot was in charge. The threat of nationalizing the oil industries' capital equipment and kidnapping their employees would not be as unthinkable there as it would be in Europe. We needed their oil and we needed peace with Israel (IMO).
Hatred of the West and of Israel was frequently state sponsored. The ruling despots used that to take potential heat off themselves. Face it, if you're an Arab worried about whether you'll be able to afford bread, why do you care if Israel exists or not?
The bright light in all of this is that Western influence is very strong in media and the Middle Easterners who had TV and Internet could see Western standards and values as a sharp contrast. Hopefully that will temper them and make for a somewhat pro-Western attitude.
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