You are currently viewing US takes a backseat in new mini-Arab Sping
Trump declares complete exoneration after Mueller finds no collusion

US takes a backseat in new mini-Arab Sping

WASHINGTON: US initially cheered on the Arab Spring but as fresh popular uprisings sweep through Sudan & Algeria, Trump has taken a more passive role, convinced that strongmen can be his best partners.
The State Department on Thursday hailed the “historic moment” as Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir was toppled after 30 years in power but appeared to be taken by surprise, with a senior official just days earlier declining to describe the mounting protests as a “crisis.”
In both Sudan and Algeria, where veteran president Abdelaziz Bouteflika was pushed out last week, the United States has only gently encouraged the two countries’ new military leaders to support democracy, voicing support for “the people.”
The reticence contrasts with former president Barack Obama who in his speeches allied himself with the aspirations of street protesters, even if he also turned hesitant as the region became engulfed in bloodshed.
Trump sent a powerful, if unstated, message on protests Tuesday at the White House when he welcomed and hailed Egypt’s military ruler turned president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who in 2013 deposed the leader elected after the Arab Spring, with authorities shortly afterward killing 700 protesters in two Cairo squares.
Testifying later Tuesday before a Senate subcommittee, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointedly refused to call Sisi a “tyrant.”
“There’s no doubt that it’s a mean, nasty world out there. But not every one of these leaders is the same,” said Pompeo, who liberally denounces the leaders of Venezuela and Iran as tyrants.
“Some of them are trying to wipe entire nations off the face of the Earth and others are actually partnering with us to help keep Americans safe,” he said.
The US leader has even said he is “in love” with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, described by human rights groups as perhaps the world’s most repressive leader, as Trump seeks to negotiate a landmark nuclear accord.

app

M M Alam

M. M. Alam is a Pakistan-based working journalist since 1981. Karachi University faculty gold medalist Alam began his career four decades ago by writing for Dawn, Pakistan’s highest circulating English daily. He has worked for region’s leading publications, global aviation periodicals including Rotors (of USA) and vetted New York Times as permanent employee of daily Express Tribune. Alam regularly covers international aviation and defense-related events including Salon Du Bourget (France), Farnborough (United Kingdom), Dubai (UAE). Alam has reported thousands of events and interviewed hundreds of people in Pakistan, UAE, EU, UK and USA. Being Francophone Alam also coordinates with a number of French publications.