De Borchgrave: "A poor, ignorant populace is the cornerstone of those who seek change in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan & ...Lebanon"

 'The Islamists of Viscount De Borchgrave'

".... Within 10 days of Ben Ali's exit, demonstrators, waving Tunisian and Egyptian flags, clashed with police in Cairo (population: 15 million) and other Egyptian cities where most of the country's 80 million (75 percent under 35) subsist close to the United Nations' global poverty level of $2 a day -- and where 26 new dollar billionaires spawn a blend of envy and hatred...... Abdelaziz Bouteflika, one of the original revolutionaries against France, was elected -- and is still in power today. Bouteflika and Tunisia's self-exiled Ben Ali, as well as the Moroccan government, have been cooperating closely with Washington in the global war on terror. In Tunisia, all bets are now off. The only people who are organized and prepared to fill the vacuum are local Islamists. In Egypt, the masses look to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood to save them from massive unemployment. In Algeria, thousands of angry citizens rioted in cities and towns against a cut in food subsidies; some 300 police officers were wounded. At the other end of the Mediterranean, in normally peaceful, pro-Western Jordan, rioters in Maan city set fire to government buildings and police cars. Buoyed by events in Tunisia, thousands marched through Amman and other Jordanian cities and Cairo, against food prices and unemployment. Jordan's King Abdullah and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak are determined to keep the Islamists at bay -- and out of government. In Lebanon, Hezbollah, an Iranian-funded armed Islamist proxy and a sponsor of terrorism, got to pick Lebanon's next leader. This week, too, the Mideast peace process crashed when leaked documents showed Palestinian moderates, desperate to keep peace talks alive, ditched their demands on (1) the right of return for Palestinian refugees and (2) all of East Jerusalem as their capital. Thus, Hamas, the Palestinian extremist movement that rules Gaza and is funded by Iran, was back in the driver's seat. ..........Critical for Tunisia's future is the annual influx of 7 million tourists, almost as many as there are Tunisians (10 million). The Islamists would like to ban or at least discourage them. A poor, ignorant populace is the cornerstone of their rule................

The Persian Gulf kingdoms and emirates ruled by reigning families with thousands of relatives in almost all the key positions, and flush with oil, and richly funded security services with state of the art equipment, are safe from Islamist predators."