tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1571201204115952544.post8951802934867718745..comments2024-03-15T00:21:37.019-07:00Comments on The Trench: When a Scalpel Becomes a HammerJames Gundunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141055666432969361noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1571201204115952544.post-28994950196753321082011-10-08T15:15:07.598-07:002011-10-08T15:15:07.598-07:00I don't think protesters believe the U.S. and ...I don't think protesters believe the U.S. and Riyadh will help them with anything. Requesting Western assistance is more of a formality, otherwise they would be isolated even further. I do agree with everything you say on creating a broad political platform to live and die for.<br /><br /> An unresolved power struggle may be the ultimate outcome, but it's not the most sustainable. If the revolutionaries/civil coalitions cannot promise greater security than Saleh's regime or the opposition, it's hard to picture them delivering less.James Gundunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16141055666432969361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1571201204115952544.post-75369548204468575602011-10-07T17:21:43.593-07:002011-10-07T17:21:43.593-07:00"Yemen’s youth movement and popular oppositio..."Yemen’s youth movement and popular opposition remain peaceful, pro-democracy and open to working with the West in the event of genuine regime change."<br /><br />These "revolutionaries" seem to believe that Saudi Arabia & The US will hand them power on a silver platter on the grounds that the revolutionaries can best advance their security interests. <br /><br />The youth and opposition have limited their political program to demands primarily for democracy. While this is a necessary demand/slogan, it isn´t enough to motivate many people to fight and risk death. A truly revolutionary political program must include land reform and democratization of concentrated wealth. The absence of such a program would necesitate reliance on a foreign military intervention.Futhermore, the avoidance of both a revolutionary program and the means of a revolution: revolutionary violence, are symptoms of the organic opportunism of the leadership of both the youth and formal opposition. <br /><br />The current dual power situation in Yemen is unsustainable. One side will prevail and one side will be crushed. Unless the popular pressure of the yemeni people sweeps away the cowardly and opportunist leadership, the revolution will be slowly strangled by the greater resourses of the state.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com