Friday 4 February 2011

Tony Blair not as Hypocritical as some.

Tony Blair has described Hosni Mubarak, the beleaguered Egyptian leader, as "immensely courageous and a force for good" and warned against a rush to elections that could bring the Muslim Brotherhood to power.

I must admit that Blair unlike the majority of  Western Politician  and Media are not behaving like total hypocrites.

Murbarak has been backed to the hilt by the USA and UK who have armed him and ignored  attacks on democratic forces in Egypt working on the  alleged remark of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)  in 1939 that the Nicaraguan dictator  "Somoza may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch".
All of a sudden Murbarak has been condemned by those who have backed or ignored the excesses of his regime now can see his true nature.

Watching the Media I find the reporting like war time propaganda  and such is the bias expressed by the media that I have almost began to doubt their veracity.

I mentioned in a previous post how much I enjoyed reading Clair Wills's book on Ireland neutrality in the Second World War one thing that occurred was that the Irish faced with Allied propaganda at first doubted the reports of the horrors of the concentration camps and other Nazi atrocities.

The reporting from Egypt has some elements of propaganda  and even the BBC seems to have chosen which side to report on. Since the side they are supporting are those I myself would back I should not be disturbed but I am disturbed by what looks like Western Interference by politicians and the media  which could well backfire.

The trouble is, democracy in Egypt  may result in the sort of plural western government that the West and indeed myself would like to see. Egypt could end up with  a hard-line Islamic government being elected which is hostile to Israel and increase in tension in the Middle East.

The difference between myself and Tony Blair is that I would accept the democratic mandate of such a government I may not approve of it but it would be the choice of the people of Egypt.
It is not for Western governments to decide what sought of Democratic government others should have.

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