Change from within

As I sit and watch the protests going on, seeking governmental change first in Tunisia, then in Egypt and maybe elsewhere, I can only watch idly on the sidelines and hope that one of my friends who lives in Cairo is safe (I did hear from her and she said she was fine, but I'm still concerned), and hope that this wave of emotion and a public cry for reform can bring about real openness, a self-made self-attained freedom.

Will it all lead to a Western imagined idea of democracy? Only time can tell. I hope that it leads to more openness and tolerance, in a form that fits the people of each state.

The one lesson I can learn as an outside observer is that this is even further proof of the failure of the US in Iraq.

We went in to find WMD's - they weren't there. We went in because of a possibility of a connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda - which was obviously non-existent from the beginning. We also went in to topple Saddam Hussein and bring freedom to the Iraqis - and now almost 8 years later and probably well over 100,000 deaths later true freedom in a safe society is still just a dream.

And now in countries in northern Africa and the Middle East the people are speaking out, trying to make real change.

Will it succeed? Will they get freedom? Will they be able to make stable countries that actually have a future? Will it all just fizzle out, and lead to even worse oppression and terrorism? I don't know.

But it is without outside intervention, without an overly expensive foreign military itching to find a reason to inflate military budgets. It is also happening in a mostly non-violent way.

I hope and pray for the best for everyone. And I hope we can all learn a little from the historic events now transpiring.

[ The pic is taken from Wikimedia Commons. ]