I suspect one of the underlying issues is this: one month of the 2011 revolutions wiped out ten years of lurid imperial Arab-bashing, Orientalist hate-mongering, and neocon Islamophobia. Instead of stereotypes, millions of peaceful, educated, literate and politically conscious human beings filled the screen. DRR
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There was a really good discussion related to the above on Democracy Now this morning between Noam Chomsky and AJE's Marwan Bishara. Bishara noted that Washington seems to be in its own world of disconnection in the face of the rise of the one force that has emerged from the last few months. The Arab voice. This is the genie that is out of the bottle.
No amount of spin doctoring, no amount of diplomatic double talke, no amount of anything coming from the US-EU and its puppets will put this genie back---for the moment. The very last thing the US and EU masters want is the arrival of the democratic voice of the Arab world.
Here's the link:
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/17/the_genies_are_out_of_the
For those who prefer written words there is a written transcript several paragraphs below the video frame. BTW Marwan Bishara is very good as an analyst and editor who is the regular host on AJE's Empire.