{"id":1498,"date":"2012-09-23T13:49:32","date_gmt":"2012-09-23T11:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ofcourseimright.com\/?p=1498"},"modified":"2012-09-23T13:49:32","modified_gmt":"2012-09-23T11:49:32","slug":"is-it-us-or-is-it-all-of-the-middle-east-that-needs-fixing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ofcourseimright.com\/?p=1498","title":{"rendered":"Is it us or is it all of the Middle East that needs fixing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"EgyptianThere is a great interview<\/a> in the New York Times with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi<\/a>, and I encourage everyone to read it.\u00a0 Egypt has a very complicated and pivotal role in the region, and with the United States.\u00a0 Since their treaty with Israel, the U.S. has given Egypt over $1 billion a year in financial aid, and either in turn or simply by happy coincidence they have been a moderating influence in the region.\u00a0 Of course, we were giving money to a government that was not democratically elected, and whose policies towards Israel were not popular.<\/p>\n

President Morsi takes America to task.\u00a0 He says that we need to change, and that we need to not ignore the suffering of Palestinians.\u00a0 I agree.\u00a0 We have not done a good service to the Palestinians.\u00a0 Mr. Morsi views that the promise of the Camp David Accords<\/a> has not been fulfilled.\u00a0 He further accuses us of interfering with the region with our foreign aid polices, while at the same time noting our support for the Arab Spring.\u00a0 This man is clearly positioning himself as the spokesman for the region, and he has pretty good street creds to do it.\u00a0 Furthermore, he is the democratically elected leader of a region where previously the only country to have one was Israel.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, we are not the only ones who need to change.\u00a0 Each society in that region needs to recognize Israel’s right to exist, and that American values preclude us from prosecuting someone for their views about Islam, whether or not we like their views.\u00a0 Mr. Morsi does not address this.\u00a0 His failure to immediately condemn the invasion of our embassy as well as his failure to call out problems within the region, means that he himself must come to terms with what it means to be a leader.\u00a0 In the immortal words of Albus Dumbledore, it’s easy to stand up to your enemies, but standing up to your friends takes true courage.\u00a0 Furthermore, there are some regional values that we ought not stand for, and one of them is the poor treatment of women.\u00a0 On the one hand, he says that woman should be allowed to run for public office, but on the other hand, being a product of the Muslim Brotherhood, he implies that he himself wouldn’t vote for one.\u00a0 For the region, this is radically liberal.<\/p>\n

The question for The Obama Administration is how to deal with this man of contradictions.\u00a0 It seems to me that the U.S. should make clear two things:<\/p>\n