One of al Qaeda's standard talking points is its insistence that terrorist violence is the only way to bring about change in the Arab world. It also likes to rail against U.S. support for authoritarian regimes in the Islamic world. By driving Mubarak from office through largely peaceful demonstrations, the Egyptian people have demolished the first claim. And despite some occasional wobbles, Barack Obama's administration ultimately came down on the side of the demonstrators. By helping nudge Mubarak from power and declaring its general support for the reform movement, the Obama administration has undercut al Qaeda's second line of argument too. And in the best case -- a genuine democratic reform movement that leads to significant improvements in Egyptian society -- al Qaeda's appeal will be reduced even further. All in all, this was not a good month for Osama bin Laden, wherever he is.
Winners and Losers of the Revolution | Foreign Policy
The problem with Terrorists is that they depend on violence, chaos, discontent and failure. A peaceful revolution with participation from the people and victory is exactly what they do not want. This was a revolt by people who decided in favor of peaceful protest, not terror and violence and they succeeded. They decided not to succumb to the temptation for violence given them by the regime. They let their anger speak through assembly and resistance, not violence and chaos. They did exactly what the devil does not want, they were, for the greater part of their 18 days, responsible, orderly and peaceful. That is not to say that violence didn’t break out, but what became clear is that the violence was inspired and initiated by the Government not the protesters.
The futility of terrorism's promotion of chaos has been widely demonstrated in the modern age. Peace (which is the desire of most ordinary people) and accomplishment come quickly through peace and negotiation, not shooting and bombing and chaos. How effective has 60 years of violence been for the Palestinians? How effective has Al Qaeda been in implementing any semblance of their “goals” over the last 15 years (or even getting anyone to understand what they are)? Tunisia and Egypt accomplished more in three weeks than Al Qaeda has accomplished in 15 years of violence. What would happen if the Palestinians decided to take a different tack with Israel and engaged in peaceful demonstrations? What would happen if they laid down their weapons and took up their voice and their pen and their video camera and engaged in peaceful resistance? The truth about peaceful resistance is that you take away the ability of your opponent to oppose you with violence and maintain credibility. It is easy for a dictator to violently oppose demonstrators who are bombing and rioting and shooting. It is much harder to be violent, in this age of media attention and the need for credibility, if the demonstrators are joining together and speaking and chanting and praying.
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