Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Egypt: From someone who lives there

Obviously, it is a very complicated issue.

Morsi was elected in a fair and free election with the same margin of victory as Barack Obama. He was unpopular and autocratic but he was a democratically elected President. I am 100% against the military coup that threw him out.

The Constitution which was passed overwhelmingly with 64% of the vote has been dissolved as well, without a single vote being cast to do so.

Had the Army sided with Morsi, there was a possibility that he would have become more attentive to the wishes of the people. If not, there would be an election in three years and Egypt, while currently under Islamist rule, would have been a burgeoning democracy. It's very likely that a more secular President could have come to power legitimately in 3 years time.

Now the military and the Egyptian people have established a precedent where if you are not happy with the President after 100 days or 1 year or 2 weeks, you take to the streets and oust him. That is not democracy. It's chaos and leads to instability in a very crucial Arab country. That is bad for America and especially bad for Israel.

Beyond that, during Mubarak's 30 year reign and for the year and a half prior to Morsi's election, the Egyptian Military were essentially running the country. That was good for America because they were beholden to us for aid to the tune of about 2 billion dollars a year. However, that has all changed. Since Hillary and her BFF Barack made the decision to toss Hosni Mubarak under the bus and embrace the Muslim Brotherhood the Egyptian Military has gotten in bed with Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates and no longer need or care about Obama or America's money. They now dance to the tune of a new and wealthier piper.

For sure behind the scenes Obama tried to pressure the Egyptian military into protecting Morsi to avoid this new mess, but we no longer have leverage.

So, what happens now? Immediately, there will be euphoria and excitement in Egypt. Then there will be a month of Ramadan. And then I predict sectarian and political violence all over Egypt, disappointment and disillusion with the Army rule, and even worse economic conditions in Egypt, not to mention more gigantic and deadly demonstrations.

In short: Hell to pay for this idiocy.

And who's to blame? Hillary. Were it not for her and her BFF, Obama, Mubarak would still be in power, Egypt would be stable, America would be safer, Israel would be safer, and the Egyptians would be far better off.

POSTCRIPT:

It should be noted that the objection to President Morsi was almost entirely economic based. The Egyptian economy is in the toilet. No tourism. No foreign investment. No hard currency. Long bread and gas lines. Power outages.

American television is portraying this as a rebuke of the Islamists. It is not. it is a rebuke of the Muslim Brotherhood, who happen to be Islamists, but more importantly to the Egyptian people, have done nothing to solve the economic problems and have in fact exacerbated them. If a different Islamist party arises or even just a different Brotherhood candidate, that person could easily get elected. Egyptians are not disillusioned with the Islamists, they just want Islamists who know how to build an economy.

Of course, the irony is that by causing this chaos and uncertainty the Egyptian economy will now spiral down even lower.

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