Congressman Dennis Kucinch has suggested that the CIA has had a role in the start-up of the Arab Spring this year. Jack Rice, a journalist and former officer at the CIA himself, says it is not that unlikely at all.

“Let’s be honest,” Rice said to RT. “The CIA is involved in every place that they try to get involved in. They try to be on the ground in every major country in the region.”

“To deny is,” thinks Rice, “would be naive.”

Rice adds, however, that he thinks the relationship the United States has with the Middle East in general is one that is “very schizophrenic.” While the US insists on spreading democracy, he argues that America often acts hypocritical, saying one thing and doing another. While the US might be pushing for change, how does the country react when it isn’t the change they want?

Despite America’s encouragement for an uprising against Colonel Gaddafi’s rule in Libya, Rice says the consequences could turn out to be against what the US is actually in favor of. Rice posed the question of what will happen when those looting Gaddafi’s compound walk out with the weaponry the dictator had in his possession and wants to use it to enforce an Islamic rule that goes against what westerners want? Americans are pushing for stability, said Rice, but are they going to get it with the way they are handling it?

What we can expect, said Rice, is a shadow war typical of America. The US will move into the region and try to control it from the sidelines, hoping that they can install their ideals in a new country with new leadership, without necessarily putting a figurehead in the forefront.