The scale of the protests and the wellspring of anti-American anger they seem to draw on, has caused surprise both in Washington and Arab capitals. After all the US has broadly supported the revolutions of the Arab Spring, and specifically helped in the overthrow of the Gadaffi regime in Libya. President Obama wanted to find a new a new relationship with the Arab world, as he told an audience in Cairo in June 2009. But this is also the president who stepped up drone strikes against Al Qaeda and the Taleban, which have also killed many civilians. So is this latest violence perhaps rooted in what the American research organisation Pew says is still overwhelming opposition to US anti-terrorism efforts across the Arab world? Mona Eltahawy, is a writer and journalist in Cairo. Michael Weiss is research director of the foreign policy think tank, the Henry Jackson Society. Roger Hearing asked Mona first if she was surprised by the strength of anti-American feeling:
8 months ago
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