DESERT STORM

DESERT STORM
18 day of revolution ended 30 years of dictatorship with just 50 words announcement. Hosni Mubarak has finally left. The Egyptian protestors incredible ability to achieve their victory while remaining peaceful throughout is remarkable and reminds us of Martin Luthar King’s words. "It was the moral force of non-violence... that bent the arc of history towards justice once more." What follows it is yet to come. But to the protesters, the single objective of a Mubarak resignation drove the movement with single-minded obsession. Now the Egyptian military is in command. It played an instrumental role in the revolution by protecting the protestors on one hand and the establishment on the other. Mubarak’s ouster shows that anyone who might replace him can also be brought down if he does not fulfill the aspirations of its people. With that very clear and unmistakable message, the transition of power is much more likely to produce a successor for whom the will and well-being of the people is foremost. The U.S., a long-time supporter and trainer of Egypt's military, must make it clear to the Military that Egyptian people will not tolerate any more authoritarian regimes in Egypt. Democracy must come to Egypt -- and it must come now! "Even if a government has a monopoly of military force and even if a government has the support of the world's one remaining superpower," Steven Zunes wrote this week on Huffington Post, "it is still ultimately powerless if the people refuse to recognize its authority." This is the truth must not be forgotten.
How the Democracy will find its root in Egypt is anyone’s guess, but the winners and losers are clearly identified in this popular uprising throughout the Arab world. The cliché that tyrants are the biggest losers and people are the winners looks like to be a case in much of the Arab world. The courage that was shown by angry Tunisian youths has now spread throughout the Arab world. Rulers who were able to govern with little resistance for years are suddenly discovering that the seats they have been clinging to are becoming unbearably hot. Even without being provoked by their own people, some Arab rulers are already announcing that they don't intend to run for office again. Heads of state who have been harboring ideas of bequeathing their power to their children are declaring such ideas void even though their children are still running the army or such important senior posts. As people power increases in scope and courage, the desert storm spreads. Just like WikiLeaks statement on its site, “courage is contagious”.

On the other hand, Western powers that have for years propped up these rulers and failed to discourage them to deny political rights to their people are among the biggest losers in the post-uprising Arab world. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the Middle East is facing a "perfect storm" of unrest and nations must embrace democratic change. (John McCain called it a virus).What is remarkable is that Democracy is breaking out in Tunisia and Egypt not because of U.S. actions in the Middle East, but despite them