Tanks Move On Cairo; Morsi Defiant; Massive Anti-Obama Sentiment

 The Muslim Brotherhood Regime in Egypt appears to be within hours of being toppled.

As I write this, the army is already moving tanks into Cairo to take up key positions and according to one report, communications with President Morsi have already been cut off and State TV is in the army's hands.

As I reported earlier, the military has rebuffed President Obama's threat to cut off aid to Egypt if they removed his pet Islamist from power, and is moving ahead to consolidate control of the country and restore stability.

Last night, civilian political leaders met with the top generals. One of them was Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the U.N. nuclear weapons agency and a critic of Morsi.

An unidentified leading Muslim cleric and Pope Tawardos II, the head of Egypt’s Coptic Christians were also at the meeting.

Morsi remains defiant, refusing to step down and saying that he is Egypt’s "guardian of legitimacy". You couldn't convince the millions of Egyptians who have thronged the streets in three days of nationwide pro- and anti-Morsi and anti-Muslim Brotherhood protests.

Morsi's speech was answered by loud chants of "irhal!" - "leave!" from the protesters.

And the Islamist rats are leaving the sinking ship. Foreign Minister Kamel Amr tended his resignation, becoming the sixth minister to quit within the past 48 hours. Two of Morsi’s presidential spokesmen also quit, as did Sami Enan, Morsi's military adviser.

Another thing about the protests that isn't being mentioned here is the massive anti-Obama sentiment. Doug Ross has an entire gallery of 15 photos showing some of the sort of signs the protesters are carrying around excoriating President Obama and US Ambassador Anne Patterson, who they correctly see as enabling Morsi and the Brotherhood's tyranny.

 

The real story is what happens next. If Morsi is ousted, that would be a huge blow against the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist Caliphate President Obama appears to have been aiding and abetting in the Arab world, which is a wonderful thing.

But Egypt still has terrific problems that need to be solved. Will military chief and defense minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sissi take over as strongman? Will the military midwife a government? And if so, what kind of government? Have the Egyptians finally developed a taste for freedom and democracy? We'll see.