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The Watcher’s Council

Morsi Becomes Islamic Pharaoh and the Caliphate Moves Forward

Alea acta est… the Council has spoken, the votes have been cast and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match-up.

The Obama Administration’s empowerment of the Muslim Brotherhood has had some interesting ramifications, among them the changes in the status of long standing U.S. clients and allies in the region.

Everyone Over the Fiscal Cliff!

This week’s winner, Joshuapundit’s The Next Islamist Domino – Jordan takes a look at a very under the wire U.S. client that could very well be the next state to fall to Islamists… perhaps even with the Obama Administration’s encouragement. Here’s a slice:

Jordan and King Abdullah appear to be next on the Islamist hit list. And the Obama administration seems to be sending signals that it tacitly approves.

Jordan has been at a tipping point for quite some time, partly because it’s a U.S client state (which doesn’t sit well with a significant part of its population whom consider King Abdullah an American tool) and partly because of its peculiar history and tribal aspect.

There have been protests with Muslim Brotherhood participation for two years now, but the most recent outbursts were large riots across the Kingdom that spread across the Kingdom and called openly for King Abdullah’s ouster. In spite of brutal suppression by the King’s security police and numerous arrests, the unrest, referred to as the “The November Intifada” is only growing.

Adding to the turmoil were remarks on November 19th by Deputy State Department Spokesman Mark Toner, who stated at a press conference that there was “thirst for change” in Jordan and that the Jordanian people had “economic, political concerns,” as well as “aspirations.” Needless to say, this sent a clear signal to King Abdullah’s foes and to America’s remaining allies in the region that just like Egypt’s Mubarak, the Obama Administration is willing to cut Abdullah loose in favor of an Islamist regime.

The unrest was ostensibly over an end to government subsidies that have led to increases in fuel prices and other staples,but it’s been festering for quite some time. Here are the two main factors involved.

Jordan, like the other Arab nations of Egypt, Tunisia and Syria without oil wealth had been keeping things quiet by subsidizing the price of food staples and cooking oil. The skyrocketing prices of these items on the world market combined with the rising economies of countries like India and China have made this an impossible solution to continue. Where it used to be Indians and Chinese who suffered when food prices rose dramatically, now it’s the Arabs without oil wealth who are at the bottom of the chain because of their dysfunctional economies, and it’s no coincidence that with the exception of Bahrain and Libya where there were tribal issues involved, all of the Arab Spring revolts have been in countries without oil wealth. It’s also worth noting that in the only the two countries with oil resources that experienced Arab Spring unrest, the Bahrain revolt failed miserably, and that the one in Libya only succeeded because of extensive U.S. assistance.

To cut it down to one a short paragraph, no matter what you’re hearing from the usual suspects, the Arab Spring isn’t about a hankering for democracy. It’s about the price of goods and food.And the Islamists are capitalizing on this (with the help of an Islamist-friendly American administration) by telling the Arab Street that all it’s going to take to fix things is a return to hard line Islamism and sharia.

The second factor is similar to the one operating in Syria, longtime rule by a privileged minority caste. In Syria, it’s the Shia Alawites ruling over a predominantly Sunni population. In Jordan, it’s Bedouins ruling over Palestinians, or Qurayshi Arabs, to give them their proper name.

In our non-Council category, the winner was Sultan Knish with War Is The Answer submitted by The Noisy Room.

Okay, here are this week’s full results:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 2/3 votes! – Joshuapundit – The Next Islamist Domino – Jordan
• Second place with 3 votes – Simply Jews – The Pillar of Defense fiasco
• Third place with 2 votes – The Right Planet – Wrapped Around the Axle
• Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes – Bookworm Room – Second Amendment day: shooting the Glock
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote – The Noisy Room – The Islamic Pharaoh Rises
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote – VA Right! – Why The ‘Clinton Tax Rates’ Didn’t Create Prosperity in the 1990′s
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Glittering Eye – “Balance Sheet” Or Not?
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Independent Sentinel – A Moral Dilemma
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Razor – Party Like It’s 1999? Why I’m All For it
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Political Commentator – James Clapper – Why does this man still have a job in the Obama administration?
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Mellow Jihadi – I Am Guilty Of Stolen Valor

Non-Council Winners

• *First place with 2 votes! – Sultan Knish – War Is The Answer submitted by The Noisy Room
• Second place with 1 2/3 votes – Mark Steyn – Jill Kelley For Secretary of State submitted by Joshuapundit
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Barry Rubin – Lessons for the World From a New Gaza War submitted by Simply Jews
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Holman W. Jenkins/WSJ – None Dare Call It Default submitted by The Watcher
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Kausfiles – Krugman’s Twinkie Defense submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Yid With Lid – Hamas: Killing Jews is worship of Allah submitted by VA Right!
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Pat Condell – Peace In The Middle East submitted by The Right Planet
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Quadrant Online – Doomed Planet submitted by Bookworm Room
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Maggie’s Farm – Giving Tuesday submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Right On The Left Coast – Must Be An Election Year submitted by Rhymes With Right
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – CNS News – One Third of Schools Receiving Stimulus-Funded ‘Student Improvement Grants’ Showed Declines submitted by The Independent Sentinel
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Taki’s Magazine – The Petrayal of Petraeus submitted by The Political Commentator
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Danger Room – Leon Panetta Has a Few More Drone Wars Ready to Go submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – First Street Journal – Economics 101: A failure to understand submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey

See you next week! Don’t forget to tune in on Monday AM for this week’s Watcher’s Forum, as the Council and their invited guests take apart one of the provocative issues of the day and weigh in… don’t you dare miss it. And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter… ’cause we’re cool like that!