A spectre is haunting the Arab world

A spectre is haunting the Arab world, the spectre of a social liberal revolution by people who no longer accept a choice between irrational fundamentalists and corrupt regimes propped up by the West. And the West must learn a lesson, that Arabs are not inferiors who are best kept at bay by corrupt and compliant regimes. This racist stereotype which pervades both left and right is even worse than Bush's notion of regime change (which was immediately compromised by US friendship with Mubarak and co). In fact the west needs to make it clear once and for all that economic gains and cooperation run hand in hand with respect for human rights. Its time to say in public what is said in private. Wikileaks revelations about the scathing private views of the US ambassador in Tunis were widely read across the region – and, some argue, even helped prepare the ground for the current unrest. Perhaps wikileaks was more successful at regime change than Bush...May Ghaddafi and Mubarak join Ben Ali in exile in Saudi Arabia soon and in hell later.