‘US wants Arab world destabilized’

Monday, April 4th, 2011 | Posted by Noor
Interview with Webster Tarpley, author and historian from Washington

Many Arab countries across the world have witnessed popular uprisings against authoritarian regimes, mostly close US allies.
Press TV has interviewed Webster Tarpley, author and historian from Washington to discuss the issue.
The following is a transcript of the interview with Tarpley.
Press TV: The revolution in Yemen is facing the counter revolution put up by the government seems to have slow down a little bit. If you agree though, why do you think it has come to this? Do you think mistakes have been done on both sides of this protest movement?
Webster: Well I think the premise for analysis is first of all is that Gaddafi in Libya by resisting this CIA pooch or coup that was attempted against him has slow down the entire process. Because when Gaddafi has succeeded in doing, is to whip away the edifying rhetoric of color revolutions, the tomorrows of democracy and human rights to reveal what is underneath which is a brutal imperialist power grab against Libya and many other countries. So I think if you look at Syria, people have become reluctant about playing the foul destabilization card, because they see their country could easily be turned to a new Iraq or a new Afghanistan or if you take Bahrain; I think the important thing to realize is that the starting point for what happens in Bahrain is the Khalifa family some months ago putting the United States on notice that Washington was not allowed to use that naval base of the Fifth Fleet for an attack on Iran. In other words there was some kind of national independence or national veto against the idea that they would simply become a pun in somebody else’s war. I think it has probably slow down and it reflects the intrinsic weakness of these things.
What we have seen really in Tunisia, in Egypt attempted in Libya is really a pooch. It’s not a revolution in my view. Historically speaking it’s not a revolution. It’s a palace coup or pooch against generals. Yemen is the same in which they attempted to take over the government with a king of window dressing if the foreground with the television atmosphere being created by street demonstrations. But the street demonstrations are not really what caused the overthrow. The overthrow is then behind the scenes by generals, public officials or tribal leaders in most cases corrupted or blackmailed by the CIA?
Press TV: Do you think what is happening in the Middle East is pre-planned?
Webster: It is a wave of destabilization by the CIA, by the United States with the help of national demand for democracy, various foundations, non-governmental organizations; the entire soft power universe plus the hard and very ugly power of the CIA. The starting point is that these counties– and I think we should talk about Saudi Arabia too–all of the counties in the Middle East, each in its own way is attempting to get out of the American empire, to get out of this suffocating oppressive stifling control by the United States and that necessarily takes the form, given the power realities of turning to Russia, turning to China, some interested in turning to Iran, some interested in turning to themselves, like Turkey.
Here we have a group around Prince Bandar. Everybody thought he was the most pro-American on the block, but during 2009 with multiple meanings with Putin, it transpired and became clear to observers that Bandar and a group inside the Saudi royal family were playing the Russian card to decrease the total dependence on the United States and give themselves a chance to have some sort of autonomy or national independence. So the State Department and the CIA see that if all of these governments are seeking to escape the empire, then the answer is to destabilize or overthrow the governments and go for tribalism or go for a break up.
Press TV: Do you think people in Yemen coming out in the streets asking for change or they are being ployed by engineers of all this happening in Bahrain and in other Arab countries?
Webster: I think this is heavy degree of manipulation. Let me just point out though. What are their demands? As long as your demand is “we hate so and get rid of him” you are easy played. Here is the United States. People hated Bush, they got Obama, they hated Obama, they got the Tea party. This never ends.
It’s gotta go beyond personalities. If you want to do something for your country, you have to be attacking the international monetary fund, the World Bank, the world Trade Organization and NATO. Not just blank generic slogans about human rights. The demands for working people, demands about minimum wage, demands about food subsidies, demands about jobs, demands about economic developments, scientific future, education for people. The economic demands are always missing. This is the whole mark of the CIA color revolution. People say let’s have the rule of law, let’s have democracy and everything will be wonderful. People in Egypt though that they are getting rid of Mubarak regime, but what they got now is a military dictatorship.
Press TV: Despite what you said some say that what is happening in Bahrain and Yemen are deals between Saudi Arabia and the United States. What does Saudi Arabia’ troops deployment to Bahrain tell you about the relationship between Riyadh and the Obama administration?
Webster: Well, it shows that if you want to attack Saudi Arabia you can do it through Bahrain and through Yemen and get them employed. Naturally absolute monarchy is not tenable. I don’t like monarchy of any kind. But let’s look at Yemen. We have al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. What we see in Libya is that the United State is allied with al-Qaeda. First of all a guy called Shiri from Guantanamo Bay concentration camp allegedly was a humanitarian gesture but I think really because the US wanted him to lead a destabilization. And then we had this other guy Unuwa Au Lucky, who is known in Washington as the CIA lucky. It’s very obvious that he US double agent being used for all kinds of operations and that group I think plays a significant role behind the scenes. Now US is perfectly happy to have Yemen, fragment, dissolved, decomposed into two parts or more ,so don’t just look at a snapshot of what happening now. The US will get around to Saudi Arabia before too long given the strategic realities.
Press TV: What sort of changes do you think US is looking for in Bahrain?
It’s mainly to weaken the government. It basically says if the Khalifa family dares to tell us–the great US imperialist–that we can’t use the base there to attack Iran, then they have to be taught a lesson. We have got to destabilize them, may be kick them out.
And again revolutions are great, but revolutions are not focused on personalities in this way. Revolutions are things that change institutions. They abolish monarchy, they abolish slavery. But above all, in all time, the economic content is what counts. You cannot do anything serious for democracy in a place like Yemen. If you don’t get the international monetary fund, there is no material basis in a country as poor as Yemen. You cannot simply say Yemen should be democratic even though the income levels and the poverty and desperation are what we see.
Yemen is a new deal, economically. When you can talk about political rights, once you got that going, you can do it simultaneously. But to simply say get rid of Ali Abdullah Saleh is not to solve everything. What is happened in Yemen is a very traditional pooch, a very traditional coup d’etat.
SB/AKM
source : http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173090.html