North Africa is going through another political revolution, and that will take time to sort out. It won't be settled until the extremists are purged.
I respect the hell out of Bill Moore, and we see many things in very similar ways, but this quote above highlights a fundamental difference in perspective. Our policies of the past several years are more in line with how Bill sees this as stated above, I, on the other hand do not believe that "extremists" cause political revolution, rather that political revolution is caused by certain conditions of governance coupled with the denial of adequate legal means for the aggrieved population to express and address their concerns legally.

There will always be those who take extreme positions far outside the mainstream of the societies they live within, and even when effective legal means exist, these small minorities will at times act out in extreme ways. But that is not what we are dealing with in Africa and the greater Middle East.

We would be far better served by a policy that focuses on helping to solve governance issues rather than to defeat extremism. And by help solve, I mean as much more of a mediator than an arbitrator, and being willing to step back entirely when we have done what we can within the realm of what is perceived as appropriate by those affected and simply let them sort it out. Governments of allies like Saudi Arabia or Turkey might fall to internal illegal politics, as occurred in Egypt. But Insurgency does not destroy a nation, it simply puts it under new management. We should not manipulate legal changes of government to suit what we think is best for us, nor should we manipulate illegal changes of government. We are better served assuming a bit of risk in that change, and being more open to working with new leadership as it emerges.

There are a lot of systems out there that are completely out of balance and in dire need of change. Our very efforts to protect the status quo of those systems is what is empowering extremists to emerge as the leaders of change. We have surrendered the high ground to the lowlifes. That wasn't very smart. How can we be de oppresso liber when we are more often dedicated to the preservation of the oppressor? That bothers me.