Excellent Obama Statement on Tunisia

[Bragi]

Unless I'm missing the trick, President Obama's statement on Tunisia is really quite good.

See http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/14/statement-president-events-tunisia

[Catherina]

1. French TV just reported that Washington arranged Ben Ali's transfer out of the country

and wants the Prime Minister in charge.

Words versus action


Edit- Ok, it's a good statement but I don't trust it. Washington is going to push for its kind of election with its kind of results, like the sham elections they just tried to force on Haiti. Obama had weeks to make a statement in support of the protestors. This is a day late, dollar short CYA statement IMO. Washington and France won't stand for Tunisia leaving their economic circle.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Yes but apparently

France didn't want him themsleves so they just let him refuel in Paris and sent him on his way - I believe to Saudi Arabia.

[madrchsod]

5. saudi arabia ....the resting spot for tyrants

idi amin was exiled to saudi arabia....

[HowHasItComeToThis]

7. THE FAT ASS FITS RIGHT IN

:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :puffpiece: :puffpiece: :puffpiece: :puffpiece:

[malaise]

26. Many of them are US backed

and fully supported

[Catherina]

6. Al Jazeera implied he's headed to Dubai. Who knows

I agree about France. If he had landed in France, Sarkozy, already very hated by the Arab population in France, would have had riots on his hands. There were protests, in support of the Tunisian revolutionaries, in Paris and Marseille yesterday. The Saudis have been covering for that crook for ages, giving him asylum there could cause problems for them I think.


I'm glued to TV5 (French) and DU. Please keep the info coming!

[hootinholler]

9. Seems an odd route

Tunisia to Saudi Arabia via Paris?

:shrug:

Have I forgotten that much geography?

-Hoot

[Ghost Dog]

10. He's no permission to land in France.

I wonder how many hours flying-time that plane's fuelled-up for.

Talk about being an out of touch, incompetent (US/UK/France-supported) dictator. Didn't even have his escape route planned.

The Swiss will be freezing his personal accounts, next he knows. So he'll have to do all his future business via nicely shady London. Edit: if not Miami.

[dipsydoodle]

11. It was our UK tv news that the plane refuelled in Paris.

This the latest on the BBC home site some of which by the way you cannot access from the US - I know because I tried when I was in OH 2009.

Mr Ben Ali left Tunisia with his family, and has since arrived in Saudi Arabia, officials said.

Earlier, French media said President Nicolas Sarkozy had rejected a request for his plane to land in France.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12195025

It says "earlier" after which I can only assume the refueling permission was granted.

[Catherina]

16. I just found this picture, Marseilles France yesterday

The banner says Ben Ali assassin, France complicit.

[dipsydoodle]

19. Turns out

our TV news was wrong. I already knew it crossed Malta's airspace. The plane refueled in Sardinia.

[Catherina]

22. Sardinia makes more sense. Thanks for the update.

Just in case one of us ever needs to write a book or something lol.

[dipsydoodle]

28. How about if I start with

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.......and let you continue. :rofl:

[Catherina]

33. I'm honestly at a loss for words

I can't think of anything witty, amusing or even semi-intelligent to say :rofl: I think Ben-Ali is the one who's going to be dreaming he went back to Manderley!

[Catherina]

13. You were right! Here's a comment on that

House of Saud and Tunisia

All the work I do and I will do against the reactionary government of Saudi Arabia is dwarfed by the work that Saudi Arabia does sometimes on behalf of all those of us who campaign against it. I mean, the hosting of Bin `Ali confirms the status of House of Saud as the haven for all dethroned dictators around the world. Western media are not appreciating the extent to which there are Arab popular celebrations around the world regarding Tunisia: and here comes Saudi government to offer a slap on the face of Arab popular opinion. This is significant. There are calls for demonstrations against Saudi embassy in all Arab countries although it is doubtful that the Arab governments will allow it. House of Saud decided to fly against the enthusiasm of Arab public opinion. What do you expect: ousted dictators since the days of Hamid Ad-Din, Sanusis, Idi Amin, Numayri, and many others always find home in the Kingdom of Horror. Yesterday, when the president of Bin `Ali was flying, Saudi media were hoping and praying that it was going to Qatar, just to embarrass Aljazeera and the Qatari government. In fact, for the record, the private station of King Fahd's brother-in-law actually announced that the plane was going to Qatar. And when the news came and an official statement from the House of Saud was issued in which Bin `Ali was officially welcomed "with his family" to Saudi Arabia, Saudi media tried to ignore the news altogether.

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/house-of-saud-and-tunisia.html

[Number23]

3. Rec'd. Excellent

[Catherina]

4. Here's something else very strange

The French media, which is just complicit as the US media, is proclaiming that the people won a great victory, that it's all over now, go home and rejoice. I hope the Tunisian people don't fall for it because if they do, nothing will change. That entire administration needs to be removed.

[Ghost Dog]

8. Uh huh.

Edited in respect of the WSWS's copyright and DU's rules. Please see linked article.

...The workers and youth who are fighting the police on the streets of Algeria and Tunisia are engaged in a life and death struggle with states that represent the interests of the local elite and the global financial aristocracy. That struggle cannot be brought to an end by shuffling the pack and creating some kind of government of national unity that still jumps to the tune of Washington, Paris and London. The only governments that can genuinely represent the interests of the mass of the population are workers’ governments, which must be formed through the bringing down of all the dictatorial regimes in the Maghreb.

To achieve that it is necessary to form organisations that are independent of the trade unions and existing pseudo-left parties. What are needed are committees of action that will unite workers, youth, the unemployed and the rural poor in a common struggle against the political elite and the financial aristocracy. These committees must reach out to French and other European workers, while extending the struggle that has begun in the Maghreb to the rest of North Africa and the Middle East.

The social explosion in Tunisia and Algeria is only one expression of class tensions that are building up worldwide in the wake of the biggest financial crisis that capitalism has ever known. The international working class has an immense social power. Only it can put an end to a capitalist system, which is incapable of providing for even the most basic needs of the majority of the world’s population.

/... http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jan2011/pers-j14.shtml

Disorderly revolution, as anyone who reads history knows, can be very terrible. So can be the order that seeks to prevent it.

[Catherina]

12. WSWS nailed it. Tunisia has a very educated youth

54.3% of the adult population under 30 years of age (http://www.ins.nat.tn/indexfr.php) and highly educated; this thing is far from over. Thanks for posting that.

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. Good Statement but why did They Just Give Millions to the Dictatorship

to Pump up the dictatorship's police and secret police?

[Ichingcarpenter]

15. Silence and no reply

The news is there and the world watches.

[Catherina]

17. No silence here. US arms sales, military aid to Tunisia

I just came to post about that



US arms sales to Tunisia: Obama shows his love for the Tunisian people

"Between 1987 and 2009, the US military signed $349 million in military sales agreements with Ben Ali’s government. Last year, the Obama administration asked Congress to approve a $282 million sale of 12 “excess” Sirkorsky military helicopters to Tunisia, with engines by General Electric. “This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that has been and continues to be an important force for economic and military progress in North Africa,” said the Pentagon’s formal Congressional notification of the helicopter deal."


http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/us-arms-sales-to-tunisia-obama-shows.html

[Ichingcarpenter]

18. Thanks.... It is shameful and makes the statement from them a hypocrisy.

But Hey....... now they have to say something good
about the revolution that happened there in order
to be .......THE GOOD GUYS.

Martin Luther King would approve of our Wars
according to a Black man, appointed by Obama
to the Defense Department..... that news made me sick

[Catherina]

20. They're not fooling anyone over there.

Obama and Bin `Ali

The funny announcement by Obama yesterday has clear conclusions: the US administration is thus officially in support of its dictators around the world until the time when they are overthrown. So Obama continued to support the Tunisian dictator until the time when he left the country. A principled position you may say.

France and Tunisia

After insulting the Tunisian people by offering security equipment to Bin Ali when the movement first started, today France discovered that it has embarrassed itself. It now talks about respecting the Tunisian people. Too little too late. This is like...Obama when he expressed respect for the Tunisian people minutes after the plane of Bin Ali had left the country.

Obama and Tunisia

Once Obama has made sure that the dictator is down, he said that he salutes the "courage" of the Tunisian people and called for free elections. Wait: does that mean that he now calls for free elections in the other dictatorships that he sponsors, like Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Oman, UAE, and Yemen? Or he only wants free elections 1) in countries that are not aligned with the US: 2) in dictatorships that are sponsored by the US ONCE THE DICTATOR IS DOWN.

US: its role in the crisis will be long remembered

It will be remembered that only when the US made sure that Bin `Ali left the country, the White House issued the statement that the Tunisian people have the right to choose their leaders. As if they need permission from the US.

About Martin Luther King, I read that terrible, terrible essay. I didn't know it was written by an Obama appointee. I thought it was written by a rightwinger. I feel ill now. What is the writer's name so I can find it again and double puke? How dare anyone?

[Ichingcarpenter]

23. At least Obama got good Body language when he speaks but

this statement was written...... I would love to see
a video of this bullshit.

I've meet Tunisians and its a big deal
when they had people they knew die
to oust this dictatorship.

[Ichingcarpenter]

24. BTW... I suggest people nominate this thread for the real truth

and exposing the hypocrisy.

JUST GIVE US SOME TRUTH..... I'M SICK AND TIRED OF ....

[Catherina]

27. Theyr'e also very educated and politically informed

Body language isn't enough. We need action please. Will we ever get it?

What you said about people dying: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x202453

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. A bit of CYA after supporting the regime?

[Catherina]

25. If only we could live up to our words. n/t

[upi402]

29. i'm done buying into his words

fool me once...

[Catherina]

31. With all of them now.

It's come down to "Where's the beef"?

[Ichingcarpenter]

32. Its OK.... Obama's spokesman for the Defense said MLK would support this

and all wars .... and then was given an award for saying it.

[Ichingcarpenter]

30. Meanwhile lets look at what HE SAID from the annoucement.

I condemn and deplore the use of violence against citizens peacefully voicing their opinion in Tunisia, and I applaud the courage and dignity of the Tunisian people.

The United States stands with the entire international community in bearing witness to this brave and determined struggle for the universal rights that we must all uphold, and we will long remember the images of the Tunisian people seeking to make their voices heard.

I urge all parties to maintain calm and avoid violence,


SO WHY DID YOU SUPPORT THIS DICTATORSHIP WHICH
AND INCREASE THEIR BUDGET THAT TAXPAYERS PAID FOR?


DOCUMENTED IN THIS THREAD.

[Ichingcarpenter]

34. This thread just went from 13 noms to 11

Listen ...... Wake up and smell the blood and death.

Not just the words of our leader...

of the 'Free World'

Wikileaks has already exposed hypocrisy in
what we SAY..... AND ....... REALLY DO.

[Catherina]

35. I thing all the congratulatory words are to pacify and buy time

"Nothing more to see here folks. Hurry up and move along. Go home and trust us."


Ben Ali didn't leave on his own. I'm certain the US and France pressured him to leave for two reasons. The first, so they can congratulate people on a great victory while they install another Western corporation-friendly regime. The second, because if the movement in Tunisia isn't stopped soon, it's going to spread to all those other great US-friendly repressive regimes in the Middle East and North Africa.

Algeria's already hopping and in Jordan yesterday, protestors took to the streets to demand Prime Minister Samir Rifai's resignation "and demanding lower prices on essential food and fuel. “Jordan is not only for the rich. Bread is a red line. Beware of our starvation and fury,” one banner read."(1)

This article is very interesting. I'm sure we're working furiously behind the scenes.

Israel dreading a democratic Arab world

The Israeli deputy PM expresses his concern over the democratisation of the Arab world, following the dissolution of the Tunisian leadership
Saleh Naami in Gaza, Saturday 15 Jan 2011

The fall of Tunisia’s regime headed by Zine El Abidine Ben Alican have serious repercussions, said Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom.

In an interview on Israeli radio Friday night, Shalom said that he comes from a family of Tunisian immigrants.

“I fear that we now stand before a new and very critical phase in the Arab world. If the current Tunisian regime collapses, it will not affect Israel’s present national security in a significant way,” he said. “But we can, however, assume that these developments would set a precedent that could be repeated in other countries, possibly affecting directly the stability of our system.”

Shalom added that if regimes neighbouring the Israeli state were replaced by democratic systems, Israeli national security might significantly be threatened. The new systems would defend or adopt agendas that are inherently opposed to Israeli national security, he said.

...

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/3926.aspx

[Ichingcarpenter]

36. Where is the OP's opinion on Obama''s most excellent response?

Not one word when facts are stated.

[Catherina]

37. Most of this needs time to digest and think about.

The OP is good people. Posted a lot in support.

[Ichingcarpenter]

38. OK... fair enough

many are still in the bubble
and are good people.

[Catherina]

39. See this in LBN. Ghaddafi was just ranting about Tunisia

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4697653&mesg_id=4698224

[Catherina]

40. Anonymous just declared war on Saudi Arabia

Touness Horria, a message from Anonymous.

"Take conscience, my brother, stay close to your heart
Don't trust the system, murderer and liar
get away from the hatred that we all jump to the arms
human mankind, only Love will save us
listen to the silence when your soul is at peace
the light is there, the light returned
Truth in ourselves, the result of Creation
do not forget your history, do not forget your mission"

Kenny Arkana, Cinquieme Soleil


A month ago, a young man named Mohammed Bouazizi performed a self immolation as a protest against the practices of a corrupt regime. His sacrifice has given Tunisians the spirit and the courage needed to free themselves of 23 years of tyranny. In a single month, the people of Tunisia have put an end to injustice in an unprecedented display of the power of justice and freedom.

Since the rats abandoned the ship, Anonymous has received reports of constant violations of human rights, looting, and systematic destruction waged by the Tunisian police, militant members of the RCD, and criminals that were freed from prison in the chaos.

Maybe you are enjoying yourself in your Saudi Arabian villa with all the luxuries you have denied your own people. Maybe you think you are safe, that your forces of terror are going to create chaos and upheaval which will force the Tunisian people into begging you to make a glorious comeback. As usual, you think that the people of the world are stupid. You are wrong.

We are talking to you, Ben Ali, and to your terrorist forces. We do not wish death upon you. We simply want the blood of the Tunisian martyrs to not be spilled in vain. To the spirits of the free people of this world, we will never stop until everyone responsible for this massacre are judged in a Tunisian court, formed by the free people of Tunisia. We will obtain this through any means neccesary..

To the authorities of Saudi Arabia: Every insitution that helps the escape of these criminals from Tunisian justice will be, from now on, a potential and legitimate target in our eyes. We advise you strongly to reconsider if you want to host this individual.

To the free people of this world: You, too, can help the tunisians with all your resources! Identify the assasins, track them, pressure your governments and media, tweet, inform the world in order to help the people of Tunisia to finally get the justice that they deserve, and take the freedom which belongs only to them as a people.

We do not forget.
We do not forgive.
Expect us.

http://anonnews.org/?p=press&a=item&i=225