I remember a conversation with a renowned academic in the venerable quarters of Jones Hall at Princeton University in 1991. The accomplished scholar gleefully told me the news of a military coup in Algeria that overthrew the government after the Islamists won the provincial elections. In a most sympathetic tone, my friend lamented the unfortunate fact that military coups are still a reality in the Arab world. "But," he commented in a deeply sagacious voice, "it was necessary for the military to intervene, otherwise, the Islamists would have come to power, and then Algeria would be in real trouble!"
Of course, the coup that saved Algeria from the Islamists resulted in a civil war of horrific brutality that killed at least 100,000 people.
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