[symple_box color=”blue” text_align=”left” width=”100%” float=”none”]
Dr.Mourad Beni-ich is a Political, Intelligence & Strategic Analyst based in Washington, DC. Mr.Beni-ich holds a BA in Law, a BA in Political Sciences, a MA in Security and Intelligence Analyses, a MA in Global Terrorism and a PhD in International Politics. His studies were pursued in England and the U.S. Mr.Beni-ich began his career as a lawyer working for the British Home Office (The Ministry of Interior) as well as The British Foreign Office. Mr.Beni-ich gave many lectures in the United States regarding the current affairs in the MENA region, both in universities and organizations. Mr. Beni-ich is currently based in Washington, DC where he lobbies for the Moroccan affairs and coordinates with many U.S. officials and Think-Tanks to promote Morocco’s interests, both in the United States and Morocco. You can follow him on Twitter at: @MonarchKnight[/symple_box]
“I am sure there is a right way and a wrong way and in today’s life, there are many different rules of being politically correct.” Mike Singletary
Washington, DC—Anyone who watched the interview conducted by the Moroccan Minister of Communication and the Government’s Spokesperson with the French Channel Europe 1, will soon realize that the man was so nervous that he had no idea how to respond to very simple questions that the anchor asked him. There was no doubt that he was playing it safe, and it was crystal clear that he was bothered by the questions he was asked. I am not going to pick on his level of fluency in the French language, as this would be so irrelevant to the core of the issue, as well as finding a hanger to blame it on. He speaks a very good French; no doubt. But, I was wondering why he refused to be clear in his answers and why he felt so uncomfortable responding to what it seemed to the general public legitimate questions that involve the general policy of the State, and had an impact on the bilateral relations between Morocco and France?!
While international conventions preserve the right of foreign diplomats to be exempt from being searched, the French authorities decided otherwise and forced the Moroccan Foreign Minister to have his luggage searched at a French airport. So why the Mr. Government’s Spokesperson refused to comment on the incident when asked and kept repeating himself about “focusing on the future”! Clearly, he did not want to acknowledge that the present and the future are the outcome of the past, and many actions of today were based on what happened yesterday.
When asked about the Moroccan top security official and his involvement, allegedly, in torture, he refused to comment and looked lost in the studio; as if he did not see that question coming and he only hailed the fact that the French government will decorate him for his efforts in countering terrorism. I bet that in his head, he had million scenarios going on in case he dared to answer, or he was taught well prior the interview and was told to “focus on the future”, as if he is a fortuneteller!
I am pretty confident that the Minister’s spin doctor is still living in a different era or in a world of his own. The Minister could simply answer the questions and he could condemn the actions of the French authorities when they frisked the Moroccan senior diplomat. He could have either denied any links of the Moroccan senior security official or acknowledge that those incidents of torture are considered an individual actions and only those involved in such a thing could be brought to justice if proven their involvement.
Sometimes I wonder what are the criteria to get a job in Morocco?! These are considered the ABCs of Mr. Minister’s day-to-day job; he is the top propagandist of the government, and yet he failed a simple test with a less known journalist. I wonder how he would have acted if he was quizzed by Anderson Cooper or Wolf Blitzer?!
Moreover, where are his coaching staff? Don’t they supposed to teach him how to respond in such interviews? Many other questions rise and are left unanswered because the current government, or any other for that matter, seem to be powerless and have their hands tied. There are clearly certain issues beyond the paygrade of the government, and only the “chosen ones” reserve the right to discuss those “forbidden” issues.
Morocco cries out for improving its Human Rights records and improve the sociopolitical structure of the country by implementing a, more or less, total transparency in its policies. Yet, we are left gob-smacked when officials like the likes of this Minister are acting as if it is still 1985. The Minister’s tricks are stale and way out of date, he should have known better, and reflected his government and party’s policies of being clear before the nation and foreign countries alike. He was not asked questions related to National Security matters.
I strongly believe that no matter what Moroccan political parties breed, we will always have politicians of this caliber, total incompetents. The world is evolving and we are still stuck in an era long dead and buried. We are giving too much holiness to low caliber politicians in Morocco, we only find out about their competences when tested abroad with proper and experienced journalists and politicians, while at home, they roar like heroes and sound pretty fearsome.
It was so obvious that the Minister was trying to be politically correct in his answers, and I bet he was praying that those thirty minutes fly-by to get out of the studio. With his smirky smile and annoying voice, he made a joke of himself and gave a ridiculous image about the country he was supposed to represent it well.
He tended to forget that those who play it safe and try to be politically correct are only fooling themselves and proving to the world that they are hiding the truth. Those people want to deliver the image that they are tolerant, but in reality, they are scared of others’ perceptions and do indeed exempt opposite views from their “tolerant” minds.
I think we are making nobodies in Morocco these days’ saints, while they are not more than v scarecrow, whose only and sole job to scare away ordinary Moroccans from being involved with Moroccan politics. They only emphasize the idea of a Moroccan being just a “number” in their agenda, a Moroccan with no right to know what is going on in his own country, a Moroccan who sees a proposal from a colleague of this Minister to pay his staff astronomical allowances, while he struggles to secure a living. A Moroccan who feels a stranger and a foreigner in his own country, a Moroccan who will not hesitate to defend his country if under attack, while those cowards will be sheltering in their beach houses and resorts.
You will not find a smooth hedgehog, and whether Moroccan politicians are from this party or the other, they are all the same. They only care about their well-being and their interests and that of their closed ones, they believe that Morocco is their private property and the remaining 99%s’ duty is to toil the field for them. Pathetic!
[symple_box color=”blue” text_align=”left” width=”100%” float=”none”]
Dr.Mourad Beni-ich is a Political, Intelligence & Strategic Analyst based in Washington, DC. Mr.Beni-ich holds a BA in Law, a BA in Political Sciences, a MA in Security and Intelligence Analyses, a MA in Global Terrorism and a PhD in International Politics. His studies were pursued in England and the U.S. Mr.Beni-ich began his career as a lawyer working for the British Home Office (The Ministry of Interior) as well as The British Foreign Office. Mr.Beni-ich gave many lectures in the United States regarding the current affairs in the MENA region, both in universities and organizations. Mr. Beni-ich is currently based in Washington, DC where he lobbies for the Moroccan affairs and coordinates with many U.S. officials and Think-Tanks to promote Morocco’s interests, both in the United States and Morocco. You can follow him on Twitter at: @MonarchKnight[/symple_box]
