Roger Cohen, "The Spirit That Binds": The Ideology That Blinds

In his latest New York Times op-ed, "The Spirit That Binds" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/opinion/07iht-edcohen07.html?hp), Roger Cohen, writing from Venice, would have us believe that the United States and Europe are bound by "values of human dignity and freedom." Absent from this lofty prose is any reference whatsoever to the silence of the West concerning the ongoing slaughter of innocents in Syria by Bashar al-Assad, once a celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic. Yes, I know, Assad has effectively kept the media from recording the horrors of Hama and Daraa, and if a tree falls in a forest without anyone there to witness it, did it really happen? Answer: Yes.

Also absent from Cohen's piece is the willingness of Germany, for example, to avoid imposing economic sanctions on that other regime from hell, Iran, which, Cohen for so many months informed us, is "not totalitarian." Apparently "human dignity and freedom" pale before greed.

Cohen writes:

"There are three priorities. End the war in Libya in short order with the departure of Muammar el-Qaddafi. Ensure democratic change equals opportunity for young societies: Europe needs to help create a regional investment bank similar to the one that helped fulfill the promise of the last spring — of 1989. And remember the Arab Spring’s bumper sticker, 'It’s Egypt, stupid.' Egypt is the pivot.

I’d argue that Egypt is now more important to America than Afghanistan. Its success in a democratic transition would be the best antidote to the frustrations in the Arab world that led to 9/11."

A European investment bank serving the needs of the Muslim Middle East? Forgive me, but can Europe even afford such a vehicle given the economic problems mushrooming across the continent? Europe, like the United States, is buckling under its debt load.

"It's Egypt, stupid"? Stupid here would argue that Egypt could prove a larger sinkhole than Afghanistan, given its spiraling birth rate, unemployment, innate religious fanaticism, and high level of illiteracy. This is not fertile ground for democracy, nor will it ever be.

Enjoy the canals of Venice, Roger, and keep up the good work.