[wetibbe]

The cause of all of this revolt is complex and multifaceted. And it's more than I want to plunge into at this time as it is very time consuming to assemble. However, from various sources:

* The action apparently started in Tunisia where the dictator ruled with an iron fist for 23 years. Wiki-leaks was actually partially to blame for getting the ball rolling. Then the kicker was the suicide of a young man who set himself on fire in protest, in a town where student riots were taking place. I have a recollection that he was dissatisfied with the government over some beef he had dealing with his business.

* Then it spread to Egypt. Just in the past day or so there is now surfacing the revelation that the Muslim Brotherhood was indeed in clandestine collaboration with some of Mubarak's military.

* Then the revelations that Qaddafi was personally involved in the flight 103 disaster over Lockerbie, along with grumbling about the bombers release, coupled with the revolt next door in Tunisia, seems to have gotten the snowball rolling.

* From there the discontent seems to have spread to Yemen, then Bahrain and now it is happening in Syria, as these apparently younger Arabs are realizing that they can get a taste of freedom and democracy by taking to the streets.

* Somewhere along the way, I would surmise, there was some "black ops" action but we don't want to talk about that.


Dating back to colonial times we can recall our own early history. Initially Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, escaping from persecution back home, and looking for religious freedom, land and opportunity that wasn't available in the old country. In 1624 the Dutch landed in the Hudson River area and purchased Manhattan from the Indians. They thrived for about 70 years until the British King invaded and took over setting up a British colony. In 1776 the American revolutionary's had had enough. Thus ensued independence.

These Arab dictators, and others such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Cuba's Fidel Castor, Panama's Manuel Noriega, North Korea's Kim Jong Il, Idi Amin, Papa Doc Duvalier, Saddam Hussein and others seize power by force and revolution. Then stay in power for decades by ruthless means while plundering the nations assets and pocketing billions and billions. The people just get fed up. The years roll by, the dictators get older and more and more young people, new generations, populate. They want something different. Surely the "success" in Iraq is opening some eyes too even in Iran next door. The world is changing.

Sadly, and all too often, the new revolutionarys that come in and take over turn out to be Trojan Horses as bad, or worse, than the old, corrupt regime that was tossed out. The USA seems to have a history of backing the wrong party - "sometimes" !!!