He really is Jimmy Carter on steroids, you know.Just as Carter undercut our ally the Shah in a similar fashion, Prez Zero is looking to destabilize Egypt during a time of unrest - and it will end with the same result, an Islamist regime, only this time run by the Muslim Brotherhood instead of Khomeni and the Ayatollahs.
Obama is simply throwing gasoline on an already burning fire.
That's a stupid move any way you slice it. If Mubarak is overthrown, the new Muslim Brotherhood regime will certainly not be US friendly, just as the Islamic Revolution in Iran gave no props to then-President Carter for his part in undermining the Shah.
And if Mubarak hangs on, Obama has alienated a country who, while not exactly a US ally was at least a client of sorts and not an enemy.
The latest I hear from Egypt is that the security forces have cracked down on the protests heavily, with over 2,500 arrests, including a number of journalists who are being held so that they can't cover the 'uprising' and add fuel to the fire. There have been over a dozen deaths, including one policeman, and Twitter and FaceBook have also been blocked.
According to one of my sources, Mubarak's defense minister Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi was in Washington briefing the Obama Administration on the crisis and letting them know that the Muslim Brotherhood is poised to take over if the regime falls. He was also trying to get the Obama Administration to oaky an urgent airlift of advanced riot control equipment, and according to my source,he was turned down flat while the matter was 'considered.'
Mubarak has already mobilized the army,with military bases on alert and all leaves canceled. Four armored divisions are reportedly on standby two outside Cairo and two near the towns on the banks of the Suez Canal.
My pal Micheal over at The Political Commentator has a few additional thoughts.
i am curious about something.
ReplyDeleteif the m/b takes over.
hussein will no doubt continue paying egypt money.
for no good reason.
my question is:
would this be considered jizyah?
i would just think that the ra......, ra........, islamic radicals would take over just long enough to get their hands on some real money before taking the US embassy employees hostage.
At this point, who knows what Obama would do? I'm not even sure he knows!
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting. While the United States has been demonized in the world media and elsewhere, the Egyptian leadership did nothing to defend America in any way shape or form. In fact, their own media is VERY active in the demonization of the United States. Now they come to the United States looking for "riot control gear." This is a stupid move on their part.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all the United States is almost universally despised. If the regime wishes to survive, its best bet will be to put as much distance as it can between itself and the United States. In fact, it could help itself if it can show a very public attempt at undermining American interests. Secondly, the Muslim Brotherhood is likely backed up by Iran. In this case, all of the advanced riot control gear in the world that the US might supply will be ineffective against better armed and better trained pro-Iranian forces.
I would agree that this move by Mr. Obama is not particularly bright. His best move would have been to STAY OUT OF IT!! I think you are right we are not going to get any goodwill by supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, however, Mr. Obama and the American government are desparate. I think they realize that Mubarak will likely fall no matter what America does. America simply does not have the resources to assist Mr. Mubarak at this time. Even if it threw every thing it had at trying to save the Mubarak government, it still wouldn't be enough to prevent the overthrow of Mr. Mubarak. Recognizing the "handwrititng on the wall" America's leaders are desparately trying to curry favor with the new powerbrokers. While I can understand their thinking, I do NOT agree with it. Furthermore, you throw in the fetish that Mr. Obama and many people in the US government seem to have for all things Islam and the problem is even worse.
Again, our best move would be to STAY OUT OF IT!! There's plenty of things right here at home that need to be addressed. This is where the focus needs to be.
Finally, if the Egyptian government wishes to survive, it should put as much distance between itself and America. A very public attempt at undermining American interests would probably help it with many of the protesters and maybe, just maybe, it can survive. On that note, what is an Egyptian leader doing in the US right now? Looks like we've got some nunb skulls all the way around here.
As for America, it needs to work extra hard on its image. If we want the support we need, we have to change the narrative. As things stand right now, if something bad should befall our country, many would applaud. "America had it coming" they would say. A great place to start would be to develop a coherent message. Next, we need to understand that many of America's staunchest adversaries are not really interested in the truth. They simply want to undermine America's interests. Also, they have a coherent message. To often while American leaders are trying to formulate a response the opposing narrative has taken hold and on top of this, if and when we formulate a response, its not a coherent one nor is it forceful enough!!
What usually happens after a revolution is a provisional regime until that time when societal forces re-align themselves and the most powerful contender emerges. Should El Baradei become President, he will surely be just a transitional figure.
ReplyDeleteEveryone's afraid of the Brotherhood. This is a huge error. The brotherhood, from nearly every Egyptian I've spoken to before this crisis, is universally hated and the only reason Mubarak stays in power. These people form the moderates. The solution to the crisis to get the moderates to topple Mubarak is by cracking down on radicals.
ReplyDeleteThat means a left wing, not right wing, dictatorship. Besides, even the brotherhood is scared of becoming the next Iran.
And that means Isolatory self sufficiency in a world with no allies. In some parts of the world, this is known as Juche-welcome to the North Korea of the Middle East. And they will get western support for the next year to build this horrible dictatorship.
Only simple minded fools worry about the Brotherhood.
If they're so 'universally hated', Anon., pray tell me why in the last real election Mubarak partially allowed, during the Bush Arab democracy fetish, the Brotherhood gained 80 seats before Mubarak cracked down...and almost every observer across the board says that if there really were a free and fair election, the Brotherhood would likely win a majority in parliament?
ReplyDeleteAlso, while you're at it, explain to me how these so-called moderates are going to prevail against the best organized institution in Egypt next to the Army, and what's to prevent an Egyptian revolution being co-opted like the Iranian one was?
You have it reversed, Anon..it's the simple minded fools who DON'T worry about the Brotherhood.