U.S. Wavers on 'Regime Change'

[The abyss]

Source: Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON—After weeks of internal debate on how to respond to uprisings in the Arab world, the Obama administration is settling on a Middle East strategy: help keep longtime allies who are willing to reform in power, even if that means the full democratic demands of their newly emboldened citizens might have to wait.

Instead of pushing for immediate regime change—as it did to varying degrees in Egypt and now Libya—the U.S. is urging protesters from Bahrain to Morocco to work with existing rulers toward what some officials and diplomats are now calling "regime alteration."


Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703580004576180522653787198.html

[Raven]

1. So does that amount to a call to these regimes to kill only a few

folks, not a lot of folks? I guess they have to wait like we have to wait. Go figure this democracy.

[Vincardog]

2. The official US policy is has been and always will be to stand by the dictators as long as they are

not hanging at the city gate.
Only after they have been thrown out and dragged thru the streets will 'our' government announce that it has always been with the Democratic elements of the new Government.

[NeoConsSuck]

8. Borowitz had a humorous take on this:

http://www.borowitzreport.com/2011/02/22/state-department-offers-support-to-whoever-winds-up-winning/

[AndyTiedye]

10. We Abandoned Mubarak Well Before the "Hanging from a Lamppost" Stage

…much to the chagrin of Israel and Saudi Arabia.

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. The spectre of $200 a barrel oil as a result of Middle East unrest...

no doubt plays a very large part in this; however, it very much remains to be seen if the people of the countries in question are going to give up their demands because of the economic inconvenience the situation causes the West.

[AndyTiedye]

4. Some Will Need to Wait a Little While At Least

so they can get airtime on Al Jazeera.

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

[targetpractice]

7. For real...

I love how the Al Jazeera presenters say after a story, "Now moving on to the unrest in (Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Oman, Tunisia, Yemen, etc.)"

[femrap]

5. Damn it.......

just pluck that Libyan loony leader up like a flea from a dog and fling him into the Mediterranean Sea. That would end all of this mess. Let the people start their democracy. The longer the Loon stays in power, the more the uncertainty...thus higher oil prices. The oil is all in the East and the Freedom Fighters are protecting it.

Does our regime think they won't want to sell their oil???? That's all they have....and sand.

I'm disgusted with our hypocrisy.

[RufusTFirefly]

6. Gee. Awfully sorry about all the dead people, but hey,

I can barely afford to gas up my Hummer as it is.
I hope they understand.

:sarcasm:

[unkachuck]

9. we have a real opportunity....

....to put ourselves on the righteous side of history by supporting the people and their democratic aspirations throughout the Middle East....things may not always work out 100% our way, but the average person in the ME will remember us favorably for decades to come....unlike today, where we have little goodwill in the ME....

....whether it's a 96oz gallon of bleach, a 13oz pound-box of pasta, a 4lb five-pound-bag of sugar or gasoline at $4 a gallon, we're being inflated and speculated here, not in the ME....