Could what's happening in Egypt happen here?

[benbo]

It works out really well. See the great success of Iran and Cuba.

I don't understand this part. See how well what worked? Democracy? Or US backed rebellion? If you're talking about a US backed rebellion in Cuba I guess you are either talking about the Bay of Pigs (obviously, this didn't work). Or are you talking about the fact that the US supported Batista, although I'm not sure we had that big a part of bringing him into power. I actually don't know.

But I'm not sure which rebellion it was that we backed in Iran that was so unsuccessful. Granted, we supported the Shah, but I just thought he was the last in a long string of monarchs over in Persia. We certainly didn't actively support the 1979 Iranian revolution. At least not as far as I know. If you're talking about the very recent mini-rebellionsbin Iran, well, I'm not sure how much we actually supported those.

Now if what you mean is that democratic movements don't always necessarily work out that great, at least from a US government point of view, I agree with you.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Well, the US supported Batista for a while, but they eventually yanked their support and allowed Castro to take over. I believe that if we had kept supporting Batista, Cuba could have defeated the uprising. The US certainly liked having Batista as a hand-puppet, but that control they enjoyed over him worked in Castro's favor in terms of garnering support for his revolution.

We did a whole lot of meddling in Iran. We supported the Shah several times even though it was common knowledge that he was an oppressive dictator. But he like the US, so we helped him out. Khomeini installed a form of Democracy, but one that was based on Islamic law. The US doesn't like that kind of Democracy, so we've been fighting with them ever since.

Our support or lack of support has nothing to do with the type of government in place. It just hinges on whether or not we like the current leader. Take Saudi Arabia, for instance. They have a Monarchy, not a Democracy, but their monarchs are friendly to the US, so we stay out of their business. Palestine has a Democracy, but since they elected Hamas to power, we are up in their **** all the time.

 

[benbo]

Well, the US supported Batista for a while, but they eventually yanked their support and allowed Castro to take over. I believe that if we had kept supporting Batista, Cuba could have defeated the uprising. The US certainly liked having Batista as a hand-puppet, but that control they enjoyed over him worked in Castro's favor in terms of garnering support for his revolution.
We did a whole lot of meddling in Iran. We supported the Shah several times even though it was common knowledge that he was an oppressive dictator. But he like the US, so we helped him out. Khomeini installed a form of Democracy, but one that was based on Islamic law. The US doesn't like that kind of Democracy, so we've been fighting with them ever since.

I'm sure all of that is true. But I still don't believe any of that is equivalent to funding a rebellion when we didn't like the results of a democratic election.

What we did in Nicaragua and Chile was probably closer.

So I guess I'm just arguing the semantics of what you wrote.

Palestine has a Democracy, but since they elected Hamas to power, we are up in their **** all the time.

This is true. Especially if it includes giving them humanitarian aid.