In light of the colossal wave of unrest currently debilitating nations in the Middle East, the standards to which the United States holds her allies have come under scrutiny.
Both the president of Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak had close ties with the U.S., and their presidencies have been either terminated or opposed for breaching the liberties of the people.
While cooperation with such men seems outrageous on the surface, the means by which these leaders ran their countries had nothing to do with the U.S.’ strategic involvement in the region — an involvement with underlying goals much larger than any nation, leader or party.
The order of uprising starts with former ally and president Ben Ali of Tunisia. It must be noted that the history of Tunisian-American cooperation dates back beyond two centuries, beginning with the   American Friendship Treaty with Tunisia signed in 1799.
The most important operation involving our nation and Tunisia is the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative, a preventative aid program involving many North African nations, including Algeria, Chad, Morocco and Tunisia, among many others. This initiative hardly makes Tunisia an exception to receive American aid, but its purpose is far more important than any single country. The goal is to help pre-emptively combat the extremism that has claimed hundreds of thousands of African lives over the years and made freedom impossible.
While not seeking to nullify his actions, it’s hard to criticize Ben Ali for much more than his violation of freedoms for the sake of maintaining power. His Solidarity Fund program in Tunisia, which fought terrorism by providing jobs to citizens living in poverty — the poor being the most susceptible to terrorist recruitment — managed to cut Tunisia’s poverty rate in half and inspired the United Nations’ own World Solidarity Fund.
Famous British writer Christopher Hitchens notably referred to Tunisia as “the Arab world’s most civilized dictatorship.” He did so with right reason, as Tunisia stands as a beacon of well-being in regards to quality of life and secularism in Africa, two factors which, in absence, see a number of African nations in barbaric ruin.
Let’s move on to the U.S.’ ties with the also-African Egyptian nation. Egypt has received nearly $2 billion annually from the U.S. in military and economic aid, making it second only to Israel as the    greatest benefactor of American aid. The reason for this is obvious.
Former Egyptian president Anwar El Sadat was assassinated for signing the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, and it was after his murder that Mubarak rose to power. The key aspect here is Egypt’s relations with Israel, as Egypt was the first Arabic nation to recognize Israel’s independence.
Peace in the Middle East was the masthead of our relations with Egypt, and whether you agree with our support for Israel or not, we have supported Egypt in part because it was the only Arabic nation willing to support Israel.Mubarak has even gone so far as to condemn the U.S. invasion of Iraq under the pretense that diplomacy should be focused on Palestinian-Israeli peace. One could say our aid to Egypt was equally as much for Israel as for a strong ally in the Middle East.
Mubarak’s intolerance of extremists coupled with his tenacious maintenance of power bears a similar likeness to the violations of Ben Ali.
Mubarak was known for silencing politicians and activists of opposition parties to secure his hold on Egypt’s balance of power.
These men violated liberties to take part in eradicating the extremism that seeks to hold freedom hostage. I cannot blame the United States for helping them. Ben Ali and Mubarak’s means of governing are not our responsibility, but the safety of civilization on this planet is every nation’s responsibility.
Clayton Crockett is a 19-year-old international studies and mass communication freshman from Lafayette. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Ccrockett.
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Contact Clayton Crockett at [email protected]