Biden Discovers Dictators Only Bad When Not US-Backed
Al Jazeera's piece on the fate of Arab Spring dictators is a fascinating historical recap, focusing on what happened to leaders like Tunisia's Ben Ali, Egypt's Mubarak, and Libya's Gaddafi. What's notably absent is the extensive US and European support these regimes enjoyed for decades, framed as 'stability' while brutally suppressing dissent. For instance, the US provided billions in military aid
to Mubarak's Egypt, conveniently overlooking his human rights record until the popular uprising became too large to ignore. It’s almost as if the 'free world' only finds autocracy unpalatable once it becomes inconvenient for their geopolitical interests. Today, the same mainstream outlets laud figures like UAE's Mohammed bin Zayed or Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman as 'reformers,' despite their
well-documented human rights abuses. How many 'popular uprisings' must be crushed for these 'stable partners' to become 'toppled dictators'? One might wonder if the difference between a 'despotic tyrant' and a 'valued ally' is simply whether they accept calls from Washington.