Arab Spring Becomes Winter of Discontent

Spring sprang in the Arab world with the self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi in Tunisia, on December 17, 2010, affecting country after country, moving quickly to Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and finally Syria.[i] 

Results to date: no democracy, no elections, no stability, no security; and instead the strengthening of the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda and Iran.  While the protests and demonstrations may have begun with well-meaning poverty-stricken people fed up with tyrannical repression and economic exploitation, radical Muslim extremists, most prominently the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), seem to now have the upper hand as elections loom in Tunisia and Egypt.

When Gaddafi goes, the tribal instincts of the Libyan rebels are more likely to drive their Transitional National Council (TNC) to in-fighting and internecine violence than to a unified coalition thirsty for freedom and democracy.  Armed groups within the TNC have known connections to el-Qaeda and are not likely to let the opportunity to create an el-Qaeda base in Libya slip away because of some pesky elections.

Jordan and Morocco have kept the Arab spring’s rebellious wolf from the door, at least for now, with cosmetic changes in government and promises of more power to elected leaders; but the natives are restless and the kings of both countries know that they are sitting on powder kegs.  Jordan’s Abdullah II is acutely aware that the most powerful enemies in his kingdom are Hamas and the MB. Read the rest on: