I think it is now official, the arab uprising that has been predicted for so many years is now burning at full flame. Unrest has started in Saudi Arabia. Libya has just lost Qaddafi. Iran is heating up quickly.
China crushed it's uprising quickly. Yemen is struggling.

Whatever was the worst prediction of "oil in the middle East" may be about to come true.

Is Wisconsin next?

When you're hot you're hot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBeBQJHhIj4

Is this bad?

I feel so lost...

The neo-con fantasy was that if we turned Iraq into a democracy, all its neighbors would like it so much that they would want it too. Maybe it worked.

People all over the world are just saying they have had enough of corrupt non functioning governments.

Yep. The power of instant communication to groups has taken hold. Iran shut the internet down but uprising appear to be spreading. The Saudis are on pins and needles.

After years of hating America and the West, it will be interesting to see where they go. Islam will probably get a big boost but Iran may be the example that turns many in a different direction.

Egypt's government functioned very well...

Better to say people are fed up with government that stifle individual freedoms.

I find it quite telling that it is happening to MOST of the governments in the Middle East. Not just US supported governments.

Why is this interesting to you?

The governments that don't fall will fall later, and probably soon.

The one's that fall now will go through a power struggle as the Clerics try to convince everyone that their way is the only way. Many people will not go against their religious leaders.

I suspect Iran is about to kill their's.

I beleive you are right...

I think that eventually any cleric that expouses hate, bigotry, and violence any where in the Middle East will become a hunted animal...

Atlo... interesting because it denotes true striving for Liberty... and they will not give that up lightly for more of the same with a religions grip.

Why is it interesting to you that . . . "it is happening to MOST of the governments in the Middle East. Not just US supported governments. "

THe US was not the influential party simply our involvement was a catalyst. Every human was born desiring free will when they see that collectively it can be obtained they strive for it instead of being submissive....the problem with freedom is that people do not regulate themselves well and too often they care for no one but themselves and their families...if you look at countries like the US and some European countries family is even undermined when it comes to individual success and desires. Power should only be given to those who do not seek it, at least in a community sense.

The middle east didn't hate us until they saw we would harm everyone the guilty and the innocent on blind orders....the US is hated because of the hurt done to survivors caught in the crossfire

I don't think that's true The US is hated because of a long history of propping up repressive regimes in the name of "stability". This is nothing new.

My understanding of it comes from individuals, people I know or have come across in my life, that have lived through worlds and circumstances I could never pretended to understand. When a man losses half of his family because a wedding or a funeral was occurring in or near a spot that was labeled for bombing
he has every right to hate us, how could we ever pretend to understand their point of view when we are graced with a blindness about what their lives are like...even soldiers who have gone multiple times and come back, they know more than the average citizen surely but I haven't met one who said they knew what those nations are going through, except in detachment I have have known many soldiers who admit to understanding why they would find disdain and hated in regards to the US

That is true but there are other reasons too. These countries are primarily Islamic and we are seen as supporters of the Jews (because we are). This is a feud and we have taken sides with their hated enemy.

"The friend of my enemy is my enemy."

For the religious zealots yes and I am aware that it is part of the doctrine of islam to destroy non believers, a horrible thing to abide by...in my opinion, as for the average citizen i believe we make too many generalizations in regards to everyone its simply to easy to find distaste in things you don't understand and its so hard to over come things that have been ingrained in you since infancy

I've had the luck to travel to most parts of the world. Almost everywhere I've been I've made friends and exchanged views of world events. Occasionally, I have met some hard core rotten people who humanity could do without. When the opportunity arose, I listened to their views too. All were informative and interesting whether I agreed with them or not.

The hatred for America is not universal in the middle east but the hatred for Israel is pretty close to universal.

OK. I don't deny that at all. It's hard to expect to be loved when you've just killed an entire wedding party.

The thing that strikes me is that that stuff doesn't seem to be a part of the present situation. Anti-Americanism just hasn't been involved. That is why I applaud President Obama for not having sided with the Governments in these middle-east countries. Of course, we don't know what is happening behind the scenes, but everything I have heard sez that Obama has been pressuring for moderation by these Governments.