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Arab Dictators and Radical Islam

(Hudson Institute-New York) Khaled Abu Toameh - Instead of focusing their attention on the Islamists, Arab dictators chose to chase secular reformists, liberals, democrats, newspaper editors and human rights activists; by suppressing the emergence of these people, the Arab dictatorships paved the way for the rise of radical extremists. This is the reason the Islamist groups in the Arab countries are much more organized. Unlike the Islamist groups, the anti-government demonstrators in Egypt and Jordan still do not have leaders. Mohammed ElBaradei, who enabled Iran to build up its nuclear program by misrepresenting it to the West, has not succeeded in presenting himself as a charismatic leader of the opposition in Egypt. In the absence of secular leadership, it is all too likely that the well-organized Islamist groups would, sooner rather than later, come to power.
2011-02-15 00:00:00
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