U.S. State Dept. and Pentagon Under Siege From Their Dictator Allies For Reassurance

The phones are buzzing, the emails flying, the planes-well they're flying too. Generals, diplomats and spooks are fanning out around the globe to reassure every autocrat, theocrat and dictator in their post cold war sphere that Uncle Sam still has their back...sorta. Publicly Washington is pedalling reform, but behind closed doors their advice seems to be 'nip it in the bud'.

Algeria seems to be listening, they had 30,000 riot police beat back 3,000 unarmed protesters, they sent the message. But they sent the old message, they tightened the lid on the boiling pot and turned up the heat. A person doesn't have to be a genius to predict the outcome. Suppression favors those resistors most willing to use violence. Violence begets more violence. The message from Cairo is that acceptance favors non-violent expression.

In both Tunisia and Egypt the army refused to fire on the non-violent protesters. This will be the key as the spark of resistance circles the globe. One ember landed in Bangkok's yesterday as many red shirt demonstrators carried Egyptian flags. They organized the flag carrying through...that's right, Facebook and Twitter. McLuhan was right again, the medium is the message.

So, here's the deal, neither the US or their bevy of dictators who've been keeping the world safe for the Corporate Criminals, while taking a cut for themselves of course, have gotten the message of the new medium. Respect-Existence-or-Expect-Resistance.

U.S. foreign policy officials scramble to stay ahead of Middle East tidal wave