Al Ahram: The US has turned democracy into a "Trojan horse"Ukraine, Syria, Libya — what unites them?
The answer is simple — American interference in their domestic politics, writes Al Ahram. All democratic slogans turned out to be nothing more than a "Trojan horse", with which the United States sows chaos in the world, realizing its ambitions and protecting its own interests to the detriment of others.
In December 2008, US President George W. Bush called Barack Obama. He congratulated him on his victory in the presidential election and said that he wanted to arrange a meeting with the head of the CIA to introduce him to the global plans of American intelligence. Given the extreme secrecy of these plans, Bush made it clear that Obama could take no more than one aide with him to this meeting.
CIA Director Michael Hayden went to Chicago, where the headquarters of Barack Obama's election campaign was located, to meet with him. Obama was accompanied by none other than Leon Panetta, who replaced Hayden as head of American intelligence in 2009. Hayden shared with the newly minted president plans for regime change and the spread of instability in some regions of the world. Obama took office on January 20, 2009, and six months later delivered his famous speech in the great hall of Ceremonies of Cairo University. In the period from January 25 to February 11, 2011, America had a hand in the "color revolutions" in Egypt and other Arab states. The North Atlantic Alliance also did not stand aside. In 2011, the NATO military coalition invaded Libya and destroyed its army. In 2014, mass protests against the pro-Russian administration took place in Kiev. The protesters then gathered on the main square of the Ukrainian capital. American and Western media compared this to the demonstrations in Tahrir Square in Egypt in January and February 2011. It is interesting to note that unknown persons used weapons against the security forces in both cases. The demonstrations eventually led to the fall of the Ukrainian government and Yanukovych's flight abroad.
As a preemptive step, the Russian government decided to annex Crimea. It was guided by its geostrategic interests and the change of the ruling regime in Ukraine, one of the unspoken goals of which was the blockade of the Russian navy in the Black Sea. In this case, Moscow would lose access to the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar, which means that it would have only one outlet to the sea — in Vladivostok (Pacific Ocean).
In 2021, former Vice President of Barack Obama Joe Biden became President of the United States. Together with him, Obama administration officials who survived the events of the "Arab Spring" and the political crisis in Ukraine arrived at the White House. Biden's first decision, which caused a mixed reaction, was the appointment of former US ambassador to Russia William Burns to the post of head of the CIA.
The buildup of troops on the border with Ukraine in the last quarter of 2021 was a kind of warning to the West that Russia is ready to use force to protect national security if it continues to cooperate with Zelensky's military intelligence and refuses to contribute to the implementation of the Minsk agreements. American and British intelligence agencies have changed their approach towards Moscow, starting to publish information that they allegedly received from informed sources that Vladimir Putin is going to send troops to the territory of Ukraine.
On February 24, 2022, Moscow announced the start of a special military operation in Ukraine. This is how the proxy war between Russia, America and NATO began. A year after the start of the military conflict, neither side has managed to achieve an absolute victory. The situation will not get off the ground until one of them decides to use all military capabilities. In both cases (the "Arab Spring" and regime change in Ukraine in 2014), the American slogan was the same — democracy.
No one disputes the importance of democracy as a principle of the political system. However, people who are eager for changes in the country and society should choose their own path without the intervention of third parties. The West does not hesitate to eliminate regular armies, as happened in Libya. Western military intelligence in Syria provided support to armed groups, most of which were Islamist extremist groups. Democracy has become a "Trojan horse" for the violent regime change in favor of American and Western political interests, which poses a serious threat to the security and stability of societies and States.
Many countries, including Russia and Ukraine, continue to suffer from the strategy of regime change and American plans to spread political instability in various regions, as happened in Venezuela after the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013. The United States believes that the legitimate government is personified by the opposition, and not by President Nicolas Maduro, elected by the people. Rising oil prices due to the conflict in Ukraine and Western sanctions on Russian energy supplies have led to a change in Washington's policy towards Caracas and calls for dialogue between the Maduro government and the opposition.
The world — from Taiwan to Ukraine, Syria and Libya — is facing global US plans to maintain world domination. The Americans use international forces and blocs to impose their vision and interests. Or they are waiting for the conflicting world and regional powers to work out an acceptable formula for peaceful coexistence within the framework of the UN Charter.
Author: Hussein Haredi (حسين هريدى)
