Polls and Reality

Much has been made in the last few days of polls that show that the public generally approves of President Obama's handling of the Egyptian protests. To me, this is just a confirmation that Obama's actions have fit within the parameters of what the main stream media is saying. According to the media, the protests in Egypt are a democracy movement, so when Obama calls for Mubarak to go immediately and sides with the protests, the public rightfully approves. After all, the USA prides itself on supporting democracy around the globe. But this is the same media the reported all day yesterday that Mubarak was definitely resigning, so maybe they have gotten it wrong with their democracy angle. Could it be that the protests will lead to a government headed by the Moslem Brotherhood? could it be that the protests lead to a government that abrogates the Egyptian treaty with Israel? could it be that the protests lead to an unstable government that is unable to clamp down on jihadist activity in Egypt, thereby weakening the struggle against the terrorists? The simple truth here is that all of these are possibilities and neither the media nor the Obama administration knows the answer. So obama is pushing for an outcome without knowing what his actions will bring. the last time the US tried that with a Moslem government, Jimmy Carter pushed for the Shah to leave Iran so that a democratic government could take over. That was the cue for the Ayatollah Khomeini to take power.

If Egypt moves to a true democracy guaranteed by the army and rational in its outlook, it will be a big step forward for the area. On the other hand, if Egypt ends up as another Islamic state sympathetic to terrorists, it will be an enormous set back for the USA and the world. Maybe it would be better if the media reported about the true stakes here and the uncertain outcome of the whole matter rather than thrilling all of us with Obama's approval ratings with regard to a problem that few understand.