Tunisian President Flees Country Amid Unrest

  • Thread starter Thread starter gilliam
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
This is a colossal event, never before has an Arab dictator been overthrown by his people. Not just that, it all happened very quickly and took everyone by surprise and happened in one of the places you’d least expect to see a revolution and was only a few months ago being praised as an ‘economic miracle’, and ‘international success story’ and a ‘stable democracy’; a lesson for everyone else. The whole Arab world is in a similar situation to Soviet dominated Eastern Europe in the late eighties. May all the Arab regimes fall. Every single one of them.
 
An Arab popular revolution (well, sort of) in Tunisia

There are lots of reasons to temper optimism that a true Arab democracy is being born – not least of which is that there are plenty of people in the power structure beyond Ben Ali who benefit from the current system. It was those people, in the end, who pulled the rug from under Ben Ali. They were pushed to do it by a wave of protests they couldn’t stop, but how they manage the next few months will reveal their intentions and the chances of structural change.

But for now, it looks like the first phase is going about as well as could have been hoped for and the massacre of hundreds in the streets has been averted. Marc Lynch, a George Washington University political science professor who blogs over at Foreign Policy, is following events closely. He was spot-on with this snap judgment about what was likely to come next a little over two hours ago:
“The only path forward I can see which doesn’t involve significant bloodshed and chaos is a “soft coup,” with a caretaker government and promise of rapid move to elections. I hope that somebody – the Obama administration, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, President Sarkozy – is ready to make that quiet phone call and tell Ben Ali that his service to his nation has come to an end.”
csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2011/0114/An-Arab-popular-revolution-well-sort-of-in-Tunisia

cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/graphics/locator/af/ts_locator.gif
cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/graphics/maps/newmaps/ts-map.gif
 
**What’s the WikiLeaks connection? **Foreign Policy’s Christopher Alexander explains:
Shortly before the December protests began, WikiLeaks released internal US State Department communications in which the American ambassador described Ben Ali as aging, out of touch, and surrounded by corruption. Given Ben Ali’s reputation as a stalwart US ally, it mattered greatly to many Tunisians—particularly to politically engaged Tunisians who are plugged into social media—that American officials are saying the same things about Ben Ali that they themselves say about him. These revelations contributed to an environment that was ripe for a wave of protest that gathered broad support.
Hackers affiliated with Anonymous, a vaguely defined, loosely organized group that has defended WikiLeaks, hit Tunisian websites in early January.

motherjones.com/mojo/2011/01/whats-happening-tunisia-explained#
 
Kadaveri said:
This is a colossal event, never before has an Arab dictator been overthrown by his people. Not just that, it all happened very quickly and took everyone by surprise and happened in one of the places you’d least expect to see a revolution and was only a few months ago being praised as an ‘economic miracle’, and ‘international success story’ and a ‘stable democracy’; a lesson for everyone else. The whole Arab world is in a similar situation to Soviet dominated Eastern Europe in the late eighties. May all the Arab regimes fall. Every single one of them.
Click to expand...
Elliott Abrams, a former Bush administration official thinks that if democracy can take hold in Tunisia, it could spread elsewhere in the Arab world, too.
 
Tunisia is far different from most of its neighboring Arab countries. There is little Islamist fervor in the country. It has a large middle class, and under Mr. Ben Ali, it has invested heavily in education. Not only are women not required to cover their heads, they enjoy a spectrum of civil rights, including free contraception, that is well beyond that in most countries in the region…

Some demonstrators said they hoped that other Arab countries would follow their example despite the many differences between their country and many of those nations, where popular discontent is often expressed in the language of Islam.

nytimes.com/2011/01/15/world/africa/15tunis.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

Twenty-six-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi, living in the provincial town of Sidi Bouzid, had a university degree but no work. To earn some money he took to selling fruit and vegetables in the street without a licence. When the authorities stopped him and confiscated his produce, he was so angry that he set himself on fire.

Rioting followed and security forces sealed off the town. On Wednesday, another jobless young man in Sidi Bouzid climbed an electricity pole, shouted “no for misery, no for unemployment”, then touched the wires and electrocuted himself.

On Friday, rioters in Menzel Bouzaiene set fire to police cars, a railway locomotive, the local headquarters of the ruling party and a police station. After being attacked with Molotov cocktails, the police shot back, killing a teenage protester.

guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/28/tunisia-ben-ali

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is condemning violence against Tunisian protesters.

In a statement, Obama says he applauds the courage and dignity of Tunisians who have been protesting soaring unemployment and corruption. The anti-government protests drove Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power Friday after 23 years of rule.

Obama urged all parties to keep calm and avoid violence. He called on the Tunisian government to respect human rights and hold free and fair elections in the future.

The government says at least 23 people have been killed in the riots. Opposition members say the death toll is more than three times higher.

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011404613.html
 
gilliam said:
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is condemning violence against Tunisian protesters.

In a statement, Obama says he applauds the courage and dignity of Tunisians who have been protesting soaring unemployment and corruption. The anti-government protests drove Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power Friday after 23 years of rule.

Obama urged all parties to keep calm and avoid violence. He called on the Tunisian government to respect human rights and hold free and fair elections in the future.
Click to expand...
Obama really has some nerve. How dare he. He’s covered in Tunisian blood. The US has been a strong supporter of the Tunisian dictatorship and was defending it all the way until yesterday when they finally realised Bin `Ali’s position had become untenable and suddenly changed tone. And NOW when the regime is on the verge of collapse and the dictator has fled the country Obama comes out condemning the massacres and calls for free and fair elections!? What a joke. If he had the slightest bit of sincerity he would be condemning the repression in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, Morocco etc and demand free and fair elections there.
 
Elections are a tool. As we have seen, they can produce free and democratic nations or they can be used to produce dictatorships or countries ruled by terrorists who are allies to al-Qaeda.

Elections for elections sake aren’t the answer.
 
gilliam said:
Elections are a tool. As we have seen, they can produce free and democratic nations or they can be used to produce dictatorships or countries ruled by terrorists who are allies to al-Qaeda.

Elections for elections sake aren’t the answer.
Click to expand...
Not that I’m conceding the unbolded parts, but I’m really interested as to when free and fair electons have produced countries ruled by terrorists who are allies to Al-Qaeda. Surely you’re not talking about the Reagan Administration?
 
Kadaveri said:
Not that I’m conceding the unbolded parts, but I’m really interested as to when free and fair electons have produced countries ruled by terrorists who are allies to Al-Qaeda. Surely you’re not talking about the Reagan Administration?
Click to expand...
Pakistan is an ally to the Taliban and al-Qaeda has elections and is sheltering al-Qaeda.

Hezbollah (the United States, United Kingdom, Egypt, Australia, Canada and others classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization), an ally of Iran who is an ally to he Taliban who directly shelters al-Qaeda. It is speculated that Hezbollah has been sheltering some al-Qaeda members from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hammas (the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan and other countries have named as a terrorist organization), is an ally of Iran who is an ally to he Taliban who directly shelters al-Qaeda. Although Hammas does not seem to have direct ties with al-Qaeda and has fought al-Qaeda in their territory.

Iran has so called elections and is an ally with the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan (at least is providing them arms and material)
 
This is so silly. Al-Qaeda groups have carried out countless terrorist attacks against Iran and Pakistan. Hezbollah and Hamas hate them and refuse to allow them anywhere near their areas. If you’re really looking for governments supporting Bin Ladenites look at Saudi Arabia.

Speak of the devil Bin `Ali has now arrived in the Kingdom of Terrorists (although after Al-Jazeera reported he was going to Saudi Al-Arabiyyah started bizarrely claiming he was on his way to Qatar).
 
Kadaveri said:
This is so silly. Al-Qaeda groups have carried out countless terrorist attacks against Iran and Pakistan. Hezbollah and Hamas hate them and refuse to allow them anywhere near their areas. If you’re really looking for governments supporting Bin Ladenites look at Saudi Arabia.
Click to expand...
Yes, I know highly situated people in Saudi Arabia fund al-Qaeda. That has been an open secret for over 10 years. It is also true that others who donate to Muslim charities (some in the West) contribute to al-Qaeda that way too. However the fact remains if it wasn’t for parts of the Pakistan Government either the Pakistani army or the US army (or both) would have eradicated al-Qaeda from North West Pakistan years ago. They are sheltering al-Qaeda.

Hezbollah and Hamas are in alliance with Iran. Iran gives provides arms and materials to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

As they say, your either with us, or against us. Hezbollah and Hamas, for whatever reason, have decided to be against us. They also have decided to use terrorist methods in fighting the West.

Anyway, the point I was making was that elections can produce governments that are not to our national interest, not in the interest of democratic countries, threats to their region and/or terrorist in nature. Elections for election sake is not the answer.
 
Kadaveri said:
Yes that’s why Obama calls for elections only when the US-backed dictator has just been overthrown.
Click to expand...
Obama is an enigma to me, so I am not able to help you there. But realize the United States doesn’t consider itself an empire (I know, I know, but we don’t) and we tend to let countries run themselves unless they present a threat to us or our allies.
 
Al Jazeera is reporting that Ben Ali is in Saudi Arabia. The Arabic press has a welcome message from the Royal court of Saudi Arabia. His family are with him because the official Saudi statement welcome Ben Ali & his family to Saudi

By the way, we don’t know but it is very possible that Obama or France called Ben Ali and convinced him to move out of Tunisia.

Ghannouchi “We received a lot of support (from abroad). (Obama’s call for elections) are our aim after meeting with opposition members”

Ghannouchi “Opposition members abroad are welcome to return when the airport is open”

Ghannouchi to Al Jazeera “I will work on lifting the state of emergency as soon as possible. We have a lot of work to do”

Ghannouchi to Al Jazeera “All parties have agreed to meet with me tomorrow to discuss next steps”

Al Jazeera “Have you arrested individuals who profited from pervious regime?” Ghannouchi “Some actions have been taken” He didn’t elaborate.
 
Tunisia gets another new president, its third in 24 hours

Parliamentary leader Fouad Mebazaa is sworn in as chief of state, less than a day after Zine el Abedine ben Ali fled the country and handed power to Mohamed Ghannouchi. Chaos and tension rage on the streets, and a prison fire reportedly kills dozens.

Fouad Mebazaa, the former president of the lower house of parliament, was sworn in as chief of state on Saturday amid fast-moving political developments and chaotic street confrontations following a popular uprising that deposed the longtime autocrat Zine el Abedine ben Ali from power.

Mebazaa, 77, became president less than a day after Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia and handed power to his prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, whose appointment sparked demonstrations and questions about constitutional propriety. Mebazaa appointed a prime minister to form a Cabinet and promised in a televised speech to consult with all political parties before holding elections 60 days from now, news agencies reported.

latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-tunisia-protests-20110116,0,5324511.story
 
gilliam said:
By the way, we don’t know but it is very possible that Obama or France called Ben Ali and convinced him to move out of Tunisia.
Click to expand...
I think that’s most likely what happened. The US is desperate to save the Tunisian dictatorship above all else not the dictator personally. I noticed two days ago they suddenly changed tone and finally started condemning the massacres of demonstrators and criticising Bin `Ali personally when it was clear he had to go and wasn’t stepping down. Then within 24 hours he was being flown out of the country by the army and his second-in-command took over in what looked like a palace coup. The regime’s goons are now rioting through the cities torching homes, looting and generally spreading terror amongst the people. This is a classic tactic to break people’s will and make them “cry uncle”.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top