As If Things Weren't Bad Enough in the Middle East, Tom Friedman Somehow Got Tigers Involved

What better way to kick off an interview with New York Times Op-Ed Columnist and Middle Eastern affairs expert Tom Friedman than by asking which lead singer of Van Halen—David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar—he prefers?
 
“I’ll take your advice on that,” Friedman told Imus, who aptly decided to move on to current events before the line of questioning became even more awkward. 
 
On the whole, Friedman does not see much the United States can do in Libya, where citizens are demanding longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi be removed from power.
 
“You have to assume that the people who are trying to topple Gaddafi are worse than he is,” Friedman said. “But you can’t really be sure. We don’t know any of the players at all.”
 
Libya, he thinks, is heading for “a Somalia-like situation,” which would be tragic if for no other reason than innocent people are being slaughtered. “You have a maniacal leader really ready to use or buy any kind of mercenary force he can to hold on to power,” Friedman said of Gaddafi. “But I just don’t see us jumping into the middle of it.”
 
In Egypt, however, “Things are moving,” Friedman said. “They’re moving slowly, but they are moving.” The most important dynamic to watch is that of the committee convened by the Egyptian army to fix the country’s constitution so that, among other things, it allows for multi-party elections.
 
“It’s moving ahead of pace, and the army is sticking to its promise and program to turn back power to a civilian authority as quickly as possible,” Friedman said. “As we sit here today, I’m still reasonably hopeful that we will get a new constitution there.”
 
If talks over a new Egyptian constitution should stall, Larry the Cable Guy—of all people—had suggested they simply use ours, because, as Imus relayed the joke, “It was written by a bunch of really smart guys; it’s worked for over 200 years; and we’re not using it anymore.”
 
Part of the reason the United States has struggled in its approach to events in the Middle East is due to the unprecedented nature of all that has transpired, beginning with Tunisia overthrowing President Ben Ali in  January. This was quickly followed by Egypt tossing President Hosni Mubarak in February, and now the turmoil has rapidly spread to Libya and other autocratic countries like Yemen and Bahrain. Asked to explain what, exactly, is going on in the Middle East, Friedman drew a deep breath and began.
 
“You’re dealing with a population, well over 300 million people, roughly half of whom are under the age of 25, who have been living in countries that in some ways have been living outside of history,” he said. The leaders of these countries used the foreign aid received during the Cold War “to lock themselves in power, and basically stifle the dreams, hopes, and aspirations of a whole generation of people.”
 
That generation, however, eventually gave birth to a new generation that is now demanding better. “Those kids—and you literally heard this on the streets of Cairo—said, ‘We are not going to be like our parents, we are not going to take this, we are not afraid,’” Friedman said. 
 
Having been in Cairo during the uprising, Friedman noted the palpable sensation in the air. “When I was in Tahrir Square, I feel I saw a tiger that had been living in an eight-by-ten cage for 30 years get released,” he said, and noted three things about this allegorical animal. “One, it is not going back in the cage; two, do not try to ride this tiger—whether it’s pro-American, pro-Western, pro-Muslim Brotherhood—this tiger, I think, will only ride for Egypt.”
 
And, finally, “This tiger only eats beef. Do not try to feed it dog food, cat food, or any of the sugar-coated lies these regimes have been feeding their people for 30, 40, 50 years.” The Egyptian military, for one, is petrified of this beast. “They just saw the tiger eat their president,” Friedman added.
 
Let us know when that tiger finds its way to the Fox Business Network studio.
 
-Julie Kanfer