Viva Tunisia!

After so many years of dictatorship, Tunisians have taken a first step to freeing themselves. Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, a man too cowardly to face the electorate and too power-hungry and greedy to give up his ill-gotten presidency, has abjectly fled their protests. But, rather than obey Tunisia’s constitution, which requires that authority now transfer to Parliamentary leaders, the president’s cronies who stayed behind are trying to keep the power.

President Obama’s thoughtful and encouraging words on this occasion may give them pause, despite past US support for the dictatorship. It’s shameful that US foreign policies have been such as to require the help of dictators rather than freely elected leaders chosen by the people. Maybe our country’s leaders need to thoroughly re-think these policies and develop goals that can be pursued in ways that fosters freedom and peace in the world. Many dictators supported by the US, its NATO allies, Russia, or China, would not survive long without their help. Let’s hope that he means what he says and walks his talk. It’s all well and good for Mrs. Clinton to fulminate about the abuses of Arab leaders, but American leaders need tailor their actions to fit their words and stop propping up illegitimate leaders.

And journalists of big, corporate newspapers like the New York Times can help our country by doing as David Kirkpatrick did in his story on the Tunisian story: give the context of events in past and present US policies and actions and those of their allies. He makes clear that this burdensome and illegal presidency has long been backed by the US., purportedly in support of anti-terrorism. Too often events in African countries are reported in the US without this vital context, leaving out that important clue to their causality. This practice fosters uninformed opinions about the world among Americans and their representatives, leading to more ill-judged foreign policies in the future. The proliferation of dictatorships under the overt and covert guidance of the US and other powerful countries only leads to more terrorism, as the citizens of the countries in thrall find peaceful, democratic options closed to them. In Tunisia, as in many countries, police forces, probably trained by foreign security agencies, often respond to political demonstrations with unwarranted violence and abusive arrests.

May this hopeful event both be a harbinger for better things ahead for Tunisia and a warning to the big countries to keep their oars out if they can’t support the sea change toward democracy and the rule of law.