Barry Rubin: Why Do American (Republican) Politicians Make Fools of Themselves in the Middle East?

Why Do American (Republican) Politicians Make Fools of Themselves in the Middle East?

By Barry Rubin

Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Mark Kirk, and Marco Rubio are going to regret their Wall Street Journal op-ed on Libya. I don’t even have to critique the piece but just to quote it in order to show why:

“Last Thursday we arrived in Tripoli to the promise of a free Libya. We saw a city that is surprisingly secure and orderly. We visited al-Jdeida prison and spoke freely with detainees—a testament to the commitment of the Transitional National Council (TNC) to democracy, transparency and the rule of law. At the end of the day, we walked through Martyrs’ Square, where Libyans cheered and thanked America and our NATO allies.”

Now compare this to eyewitness accounts like this one or to many others available in the media, showing how the rebels, with NATO’s help, are bombarding civilians in Sirte, or accounts of torture and execution of prisoners, or the massive looting in every town captured by the rebels, and the weapons sold by them to terrorists.

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Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). His latest book is Israel: An Introduction, to be published by Yale University Press in January 2012. You can read more of Barry Rubin's posts at Rubin Reports, and now on his new blog, Rubin Reports, on Pajamas Media

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