The whole thread of this argument is based on two false premises:

1. That there is something called a ‘democratic revolution’ or ‘Arab revolution’ spreading in this whole region and every country’s conflicts are basically national manifestations of this same pan-Arab phenomenon.

2. That the Libyan and maybe Syrian “revolutions” had had an “emancipatory content” from a ‘popular militia’ with a ‘popular political impetus’ from the beginning which may or may not now be gone in Libya because of the bombing but whose revival we must fervently wish and work towards.

The character of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt

Let us first look at the character of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. These revolutions were dominated from the beginning by the middles classes and by opportunist politicians, to a far greater extent in Egypt than in Tunisia. They sucked in big numbers of unemployed youth, who became…