The sky isn't falling in Egypt, Libya

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July 14, 2012

The sky isn't falling in Egypt, Libya

Anonymous Daily Star The Daily Star Sat Jul 14, 2012, 03:25 AM EDT

The nascent democracies of Egypt and Libya reached important milestones in recent weeks by holding parliamentary and presidential elections.

To see free, fair elections replace corrupt dictatorships in two nations should be a welcome sight to all who oppose tyranny. Egypt's military junta faced strong international pressure to recognize Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi's runoff victory over ex-Hosni Mubarak crony Ahmed Shafiq. In Libya, the party of moderate Mahmoud Jibril scored what Reuters described as a "landslide victory" over its hardline Islamist opponent with a majority of votes tallied Thursday.

Both transitions so far have defied the direst predictions. Morsi pledged to be "a president for all Egyptians" and has reached out to liberals and minorities, promising to appoint a woman and a Coptic Christian as vice presidents. His newly appointed United Nations ambassador allayed concerns of renewed tension with Israel, saying Monday that Egypt would continue "respecting our international obligations and all treaties we are a part of" _ including the 1979 Camp David accords.

Jibril, the Libyan opposition's interim prime minister during last year's uprising, is a former doctoral student and professor who has promised a government "that does not differentiate between a man and a woman, sects or ethnicities."

Both nations still face significant challenges. The discontent that led to Mubarak's ouster was due in part to Egypt's stagnant economy, and unemployment remains high. Libya's militias remain reluctant to disarm, and local rivalries persist. Regional autonomy and the equitable distribution of Libya's vast oil wealth are contentious matters that remain unsolved.

But it's unreasonable to second-guess U.S. acquiescence in Egypt's revolution and democratic transition, and U.S. intervention in Libya may have prevented the sort of grueling, drawn-out turmoil that has plagued Syria for more than a year, as many as 17,000 lives.

Former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum said last year that President Barack Obama "threw Mubarak under the bus," a sentiment that was echoed by former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, now one of Mitt Romney's advisers.

One can't help detect a hint of schadenfreude in those who use every skirmish or squabble in Libya as a "told-ya-so" moment, perhaps in hopes of landing egg on Obama's face. Bear in mind that for years after the American Revolution was won, the U.S. was plagued by the armed insurrections known as Shay's Rebellion (1786-1787) and the Whiskey Rebellion (1791-1794).

Many who liberated Egypt and Libya paid the cost with their lives, and everyone who values freedom should salute both their sacrifice and the change it effected.