Tom Friedman on Rebellion in the Mid-East

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Friedman is pleased to see the rise of more democratic forces in the Mid-East. He acknowledges that the rebels are doing what they can to bring an end to autocratic regimes that the US has been propping up for years with financial aide. He then puts the focus on US policies in the Mid-East where we are spending $110 billion per year to prop up corrupt regimes. He believes that the costs exceed the benefits that we receive in return. He believes that we should ease our way out Afghanistan and let the people get rid of the corrupt regime that we have put in place.

Friedman did not mention Iraq as an example of what not to do in our effort to encourage democracy in the Mid-East. Perhaps that is because he supported the US military effort to depose an autocrat in Iraq and replace the regime with a more democratic government. Perhaps he has learned that a movement toward democracy has to come from within.