Hana al Bayaty, writer for Al-Ahram, criticizes Arab and Western intellectuals who are unable to criticize dictatorships and foreign intervention at the same time, as in Libya; of Westerners who believe the US, through NGOs is behind the Arab uprisings, reflecting a colonialist mentality mirroring the US and its allies; of the Arab spring being an uprising of youth across the region determined to live in a different world; of the importance of the independent unions in the Egyptian uprising; of the Iraq occupation being continued by contractors and Iranian involvement and influence.