Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed forces, the military junta running the country finally announced the 'results' of the recent presidential run off election. After some dancing around, they finally named the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi as Egypt's new president...by a narrow 51.7%, a three point spread. If this suggests a cynical deal to you between the Islamists (who almost certainly won by a greater margin) and the Army, you're absolutely correct.
The back story on this is absolutely incredible. So is the Obama Administration's direct involvement.
As you know President Obama has long been sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood. There are several influential people in his administration with Muslim Brotherhood ties like senior White House adviser Dalia Mogahed, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's close personal aide and adviser Huma Abedin and U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Rashad Hussain, among others.
The Administration's support for the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood was so all encompassing that our Department of Justice deliberately allowed major officials of Muslim Brotherhood fronts like CAIR and the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) who were directly linked to material support for Islamist terrorism in the Holy Land Foundation trial to go free in what were virtually open and shut cases by filing motions of Disinclination to Prosecute.
The Muslim Brotherhood has a friendly ear in the White House. Here's how they used it.
You may remember a story that briefly surfaced last week about an Egyptian Islamist who was invited to the White House named Hani Nour Eldin. Eldin is an Islamist member of the Egyptian Parliament who belongs to an officially designated terrorist group, Gamaa Islamiya. Those in the media who bothered to cover this were wondering why someone like this not only got a visa in defiance of U.S. law, but a White House invite to a sit down with what were described as 'high-level advisers'.
The answer is simple. Eldin's trip, authorized by the White House, was made after the SCAF dissolved the newly elected Egyptian parliament, after the assumption by the junta of legislative authority and after the announced delay in declaring the winner of the Egyptian presidential run off between the Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi and the army's candidate, Ahmed Shafik.
According to my sources, Hani Nour Eldin was the chosen ambassador of the Egyptian Islamists to the White House sent to ask for their assistance in getting the junta to turn over power to them, and the story that he came here to ask for clemency for Omar Abdel Rahman, the Egyptian cleric convicted of involvement in the first World Trade Center bombing in 1992 is simply misleading nonsense.
The Army was already well aware that Shafik had lost handily to the Islamists, and the steps they had taken, which included declaring martial law, were designed to hang on to power and their prerogatives.
What happened next was an elaborate three way dance between the Egyptian military junta, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Obama Administration.
Egypt is heavily dependent on U.S. aid and is in the process of negotiating a desperately needed loan from the IMF. In fact, one of the reasons for the trumped up dissolution of parliament was a disagreement between the junta and the Islamist over whom was going to control the funds from the IMF loan once it went through.
The Obama Administration apparently acted as the muscle for the Brotherhood, threatening the junta with the possible loss of all U.S. aid and the torpedoing of the IMF loan unless they relinquished power to the Brotherhood and worked out something acceptable. At that point, the junta and the Brotherhood began serious negotiations.
What apparently has resulted is that Morsi and the Brotherhood will take over as civilian leaders, but without a parliament and with limited powers. In exchange, the Brotherhood has apparently decided to allow the military to hang on to some of its power and prerogatives and pledged to avoid an open confrontation in the streets - for now.
Morsi made perfunctory mentions of being the President of 'all Egypt' which some people have taken to mean that Egypt's Christian Copts and Egypt's women are going to have democratic rights. Watch and see how many Copts end up fleeing Egypt within a year's time.Egypt, as I predicted when the rebellion first started will end up becoming the Sunni equivalent of Iran.
U.S. President Barack Obama called Morsi to congratulate him and pledge to "support Egypt's transition to democracy and stand by the Egyptian people as they fulfill the promise of the revolution." Translation.. the aid check's on the way. Not only are we now funding Hamas, but we'll be funding their parent organization in Egypt.
President Obama's strategy - if it can be called that - is to appease and assist the Muslim Brotherhood at every turn because he imagines that these Islamists can be 'worked with'. He couldn't be more wrong, and subsequent events are going to bear that out.
This is a much bigger event than people in the West realize.
UPDATE: Shafik, the losing candiate has fled the country with his family. More details here on the deal between the Brotherhood and the junta, and on the Brotherhood's formal plan to Islamize Egypt and establish the base for the Caliphate. It really looks like Egypt is headed towards becoming a Sunni version of Iran.
2 comments:
Once the military made the decision not to intervene on behalf of Mubarak, there was nothing the US or any one else could have done to save the Mubarak government even if they wanted to. Also, once the rank and file members of the military chose to step aside, there was nothing the military leaders could have done. What happens now and in the future in Egypt is entirely dependent upon the military.
Far from being desparate for the aid from America, it is not Egypt who is desparate. It is America who is desparate. America needs Egyptian cooperation in certain areas. As such, the aid is a form of blackmail by the Egyptians against the Americans.
Essentailly under the current situation, America needs Egyptian cooperation. Egypt does not need to cooperate with America. As such, the aid would have continued and will continue no matter who rules Egypt. That is until Egypt decides to cut America loose.
Since no matter what America would have done, the MB would have come to power, the best bet for America would have been to stay out of this entirely and try and work with the winners after every thing is settlled. By intervening where they did, the American government likely ensured that the MB came to power faster than it would have otherwise.
Had the process taken longer other parties likely would have had time and space to organize and gain in strength and organization. This means they likely could have acted as a check on the MB. In a situation of the parties being weaker, Egypt probably would have been easier to deal with than they likely will be now.
I'd expect the cost of blackmail against America to go up now. If course that would have happened any way. Not it'll just go up faster. Of course the same thing happens if we supported the Army and Mubarak but they never had a chance once they chose to stand down!!
Just who is the "West" by the way? If we mean Western Europe each of these countries have such divergent needs and interests it is a mistake to try and combine them is some sort of monolithic entity and call it the "West."
Furthermore the EU nations view America as a strategic competitor and will harm it any way they can at any opportunity they have to do so. Essentially they will view any calmity that might happen to America as good for them. As such, DO NOT expect help from them in any important area.
Why is this trader still in office???..it makes NO sense
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