The disconnect

With the remarkable events that transpired in Egypt and the ongoing protest in Iran and other places I am struck by the anti American sentiment that seems to have coincided with these events. I understand that  the success in Egypt may give people the momentum to make bolder statements, and hating on USA seems to be a popular target. I am an American, but I do not blindly endorse the actions of my government across the board blindly.

I do think there is a disconnect in understanding the wants and desires of a people and the function of a state. People want, need, deserve to be free. Nobody deserves to live under the rule of a tyrant. I believe that, as a people, we Americans believe very strongly in the democratic process and very much want to see other countries escape poverty and bad government. These beliefs are central to what our country was founded on. To doubt the sincerity of Americans that express these ideas is a mistake. Here is the complicated part.

The role of the state is to provide security and prosperity to its people. These things are first and foremost. Let's take Egypt for example. I see a lot of negative comments about the American support for Mubarak during his tenure as President. From a personal perspective, yes it is despicable. But it made sense from a political standpoint. For most of those 30 years the Egyptian people were mostly quiet. The US took a stance of "if the people are under control, everything is ok"  The peace treaty Egypt signed with Israel solidified the complicit attitude we took. It is in our best interest to keep relative peace in the Middle East for a number of reasons. When the Jan25th revolution took place in put US foreign policy in the middle of this disconnect. Yes, we want to promote freedom and peoples rights, but from a foreign policy standpoint we had to sit on the fence

I, as an American, do not like the reality of the situation.  It fills me with joy to see what the Egyptian people have done. I pray the transition is left to complete its mission of free elections. I also believe it would be a grave mistake to dismiss any aid or support from the US. Yes, we make mistakes and our policy may not represent everything you believe in but it can be advantageous to your goals. Politics are not what should be, there are what is. It is a dirty self serving enterprise. It is up to the people to keep the government from running completely foul.

Stay strong and keep fighting for what is right. The American PEOPLE are behind you. Let us pray that in the future all of our politicians make better choices and act on the the side of Justice.