Egypt army topples president, announces transition

[Valin]

A quick tour of a very bad neighborhood

 

Dismiss the Egyptian People and Elect a New One

David P. Goldman

7/4/13

 

Update: Why cant we get 14 million people into the streets to proclaim that Obama is an idiot like the Egyptians did? Over at ZeroHedge, Jim Quinn posts pictures of the banners in the mass demonstrations. They are inspiring. One read: Obama you jerk, Muslim Brotherhoods are killing the Egyptians, so how come they can guarantee you the security of Israel. Hey Obama, your deal with the Muslim Brotherhood is unsuccessful. Obama you idiot, Keep in mind that Egypt is not Muslim brotherhoods and if you dont believe that go and see whats happening in Tahrir Square now. Another reads, Obama, your bitch is our dictator. A picture of Hillary Clinton read, Hayzaboon [ogre] go home. Many banners simply read, Obama supports terrorism. Others were too harsh to mention in a family site. Happy 4th of July!

 

As Communist writer Bertolt Brecht offered after East German workers rose against their Moscow-backed masters in 1953, perhaps the Egyptian government should dismiss the people and elect a new one.

 

(Snip)

 

Starvation is the unstated subject of this weeks military coup. For the past several months, the bottom half of Egypts population has had little to eat besides government-subsidized bread, and now the bread supply is threatened by a shortage of imported wheat. Despite $8 billion of aid from Qatar and smidgens from Libya, Turkey, and others, Egypt is struggling to meet a financing gap of perhaps $20 billion a year, made worse by the collapse of its major cash earner the tourist industry. Malnutrition is epidemic in the form of extreme protein deficiency in a country where 40% of the adult population is already stunted by poor diet, according to the World Food Program. It is not that hard to get 14 million people into the streets if there is nothing to eat at home.

 

(Snip)

 

The Saudis have another reason to get involved in Egypt, and that is the situation in Syria. Saudi Arabias intervention in the Syrian civil war, now guided by Prince Bandar, the new chief of Saudi Intelligence, has a double problem. The KSA wants to prevent Iran from turning Syria into a satrapy and fire base, but fears that the Sunni jihadists to whom it is sending anti-aircraft missiles eventually might turn against the monarchy. The same sort of blowback afflicted the kingdom after the 1980s Afghan war, in the person of Osama bin Laden. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been fighting for influence among Syrias Sunni rebels (as David Ottaway reported earlier this week at National Interest). Cutting off the Muslim Brotherhood at the knees in Egypt will help the KSA limit potential blowback in Syria.

 

Egypt probably can be kept on life support for about $10 billion a year in foreign subsidies, especially if the military regime can restore calm and bring the tourists back (although that is a big if one of President Morsis last acts was to appoint as governor of Luxor province an associate of the Islamist terrorists who massacred 62 tourists in Luxor in 1997)......(Snip)

 

 

__________________________________________

 

As we so often see everything is connected to everything else, particularly in foreign affairs.

[Valin]

Have No Fear! The Community Organizer In Chief Is On The Ball!

 

[NCTexan]

Interesting that the primary reasons called out for the overthrow are economics, food, and gas and not pointing the country into a more extreme and aggressive sharia religious state.

[Valin]

Interesting that the primary reasons called out for the overthrow are economics, food, and gas and not pointing the country into a more extreme and aggressive sharia religious state.

As many more smarter, knowledgeable than I have pointed out many many times the Islamists/Salafists, are strong on ideology they are clueless on how to run a country. Like all revolutionaries (our Founders excepted, it really helps to have some grounding in The Real World).

What we are seeing in Egypt (and other places) is why I have been saying for many many years, We Will Win This Fight. In spite of often being really stupid....ie There's no problem, and if there is it's our fault (the Left) Islam is at war with us...Nuke Mecca. (the Right).

[nickydog]

Have No Fear! The Community Organizer In Chief Is On The Ball!

 

 

 

Oh, whew! Thank heavens.

[Valin]

 

Have No Fear! The Community Organizer In Chief Is On The Ball!

 

 

Oh, whew! Thank heavens.

 

My major concern is where is the Vice President? It seems to me his wise counsel is needed.

[SrWoodchuck]

 

 

Have No Fear! The Community Organizer In Chief Is On The Ball!

 

 

Oh, whew! Thank heavens.

 

My major concern is where is the Vice President? It seems to me his wise counsel is needed.

 

 

Has anyone checked the WH basement? That's where Biden's locked closet office used to be....

[SrWoodchuck]

You don't want us........we keeeel you!

 

 

H/T:WeaselZippers

[NCTexan]

You don't want us........we keeeel you!

 

 

H/T:WeaselZippers

 

They are just asking for a little understanding.

 

If those hateful Christians would just...

 

[Casino67]

@Sarahcarr 4m
Military have confiscated CNN's equipment.
Retweeted by السيد مانكي

[NCTexan]

@Sarahcarr 4m

Military have confiscated CNN's equipment.

Retweeted by السيد مانكي

@Casino67

 

Who dat retweeter?

 

BTW, they can have the whole darned network for all I'm concerned.

[Casino67]

benwedeman ‏@bencnn 9m
Cnn crew in Cairo fine. Sipping tea by the Nile, enjoying the evening cool, waiting for Army officer to return our camera.

[Valin]

17 dead, hundreds wounded as post-coup violence erupts in Egypt

Ben Wedeman. Chelsea J. Carter and Tom Watkins

7/5/13

 

Cairo (CNN) -- Fighting erupted Friday night in Cairo between hundreds of supporters of Mohamed Morsy and their opponents before the military broke it up, raising fears of widening violence after the military ousted the country's first democratically elected president.

 

The violence came as Morsy's supporters held massive protests across the country, calling for his reinstatement, a counter to the huge demonstrations among those celebrating his ouster.

 

At least 17 people were killed Friday and hundreds more were injured in clashes across the country that pitted Morsy supporters against his opponents and the military, state-run Egyptian television reported, citing the Ministry of Health.

 

Among those killed were five Morsy supporters who were shot by the army in front of the headquarters of the Republican Guard headquarters, where Morsy was said to be detained, the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing -- the Freedom and Justice Party -- said.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

http://youtu.be/4QxkZFeMM0c

[Casino67]

[Valin]

And here we see a classic example of Salafism. It really doesn't work in a modern society. This is why they will go away. Thomas Barnett talks about this being a backlash against Globalization.

[Valin]

Intricacies of Egypt's Coup d'état Explained

Daniel Pipes

National Review Online

July 5, 2013

 

Events in Egypt this week prompt many responses. Here are some thirteen (complementing my article suggesting that Morsi was removed from power too soon to discredit Islamism as much as he should have).

 

Was Morsi the democratically elected president of Egypt? Every press account affirms he was but that is wrong. I co-authored three articles on this topic with Cynthia Farahat, looking at the first round of parliamentary elections ("Egypt's Sham Election"), the second round ("Don't Ignore Electoral Fraud in Egypt"), and the presidential elections ("Egypt's Real Ruler: Mohamed Tantawi"). In them, we documented the extensive manipulation of the 2011-12 elections, which we saw as "a ploy by the ruling military leadership to remain in power." I remain puzzled and frustrated why these elections, with their don't-pass-the-laugh-test results, continue to be portrayed as legitimately democratic. That they were not skewers the whole business about the military overthrowing a legitimate leader.

 

Morsi was never in command: Obviously, he did not control the military, but he also did not control the police, the intelligence services, the judiciary, or even the Presidential Guard assigned to protect him. As one report from Cairo put it, "in a sign of how little Mr. Morsi ever managed to control the Mubarak bureaucracy he took over, the officers of the Presidential Guard burst into celebration, waving flags from the roof of the palace." In other words, Morsi always sat in his office at the sufferance of the deep state, the very agencies that brokered his "election" in June 2012.

 

There are only two powers, the military and the Islamists: This sad truth has been confirmed repeatedly in the past 2½ years of Arabic-speaking upheaval, and it has been confirmed again now in Egypt. The liberals, seculars, and leftists do not count when the chips are down. Their great challenge is to become politically relevant.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Two from Al Ahram Online

 

Clashes in Sinai over Morsi removal

At least 20 jihadists have died in clashes with army and police since removal of Mohamed Morsi

Ahmed Eleiba

Friday 5 Jul 2013

 

North Sinai has witnessed unprecedented clashes between armed militias, police and soldiers since the removal of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

 

Troops have been deployed at various locations throughout the peninsula and a state of emergency has been declared in Sinai and the Suez Canal region.

 

Authenticated videos of Islamists threatening the army appeared online following a hundreds-strong demonstration in Al-Arish city on Thursday evening, with speakers broadcasting calls to form a war council to combat the army.

 

Activist Hossam El-Shorbagy, who is close to Muslim Brotherhood, told Ahram Online that Islamist militias will not back down from confronting the army because they have flourished during Mohamed Morsi's period in office. Some 20 militia fighters and one soldier have been killed in clashes in recent days, El-Shorbagy said.

 

(Snip)

 

Muslim Brotherhood's second-man El-Shater arrested: Security official

Muslim Brotherhood's deputy leader arrested late Friday as part of ongoing crackdown on group figures

El-Sayed Gamaledine

Saturday 6 Jul 2013

 

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Deputy Supreme Guide, Khairat El-Shater, was arrested late Friday along with his brother in Cairo’s Nasr City district. He is being held on charges of inciting violence.

 

Shater, a wealthy businessman and a former presidential candidate who was initially disqualified from last year’s presidential elections due to his questionable legal status, was seen by many Egyptians as the shadow power behind Morsi's throne.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

A bit dated but still worth the time spent reading.

 

Egypt Continued, or Interrupted (Depending on Your Point of View)

Adam Garfinkle

7/4/13

 

(Snip)

 

A lot has happened since I posted Abdel Fattah al-SisiMemorize That Name on July 1. The scenario I posited has worked out so far in every respect save one, but it is an important one because it informs the not-at-all-trivial semantic argument over whether what has happened is or is not a coup.

 

I assumed that the military would invite the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Freedom and Justice Party, into its planned transitional government arrangement. It did. But the MB, led in this case, I assume, by a decision taken together by Mohammed Morsi, Khaitar al-Shatar and Mohammed Badie, vehemently rejected that invitation and engaged instead in what one organizer of the Tamarod movement has termed incitement to civil war. Morsis 11th hour change of heart, where he seemed to offer a dollop of conciliation, struck al-Sisi as not just too little too late, but as the act of a desperate manwhich, of course, is what it was, since by then Morsis entire cabinet had resigned and repudiated his rambling fulmination of the previous evening.

 

The MBs rejection of the Armys invitation was both unnecessary and very stupid, but Leninist-organized religious fanatics enthralled by conspiracy theories are prone to stupidity. It is, nevertheless, poetic justice of a sort that Morsi has behaved in a politically incompetent way that has objectively aided the Army, since he was the benefactor of a prior year-long episode of incompetence perpetrated by Field Marshall Mohammed Hussein Tantawi that aided the Brotherhood.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Egypt: Coptic Christian priest shot dead

A Coptic Christian priest in Egypt's Northern Sinai has been shot dead, in what could be the first sectarian attack since the military overthrow of Islamist Mohammed Morsi.

Chris Irvine,

06 Jul 2013

 

The priest, Mina Aboud Sharween, was attacked in the early afternoon while walking in the Masaeed area in El Arish.

 

The shooting in the coastal city was one of several attacks believed to be by Islamist insurgents that included firing at four military checkpoints in the region, the sources said.

 

Saturday's attacks on checkpoints took place in al-Mahajer and al-Safaa in Rafah, as well as Sheikh Zuwaid and al-Kharouba.

 

(Snip)

[Draggingtree]

Morsi Supporters Throw Teens Off Building in Alexandria

by Kerry PicketJul 6, 2013 8:13 AM PT

Two teens atop a two-story building in Alexandria, Egypt Friday were hurled off of it by apparently pro- Mohomed Morsi supporters. After failed attempts by the group of men, one of whom is carrying an al-qaeada flag, to try and remove the kids from elevated the roof top by throwing stones at the young boys, one man begins to scale his way towards the boys. He and his other cohorts grab both teens and throw them off the roof. Alexandria is a known hotbed of Muslim Brotherhood supporters. An American was shot dead among protesters in late June when demonsrations against the Morsi led government began to breakout.

http://youtu.be/96uKI-QowFM

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/07/06/Morsi-Supporters-Throw-Teens-Off-Building-in-Alexandria

[Valin]

Egyptians on edge after clashes leave at least 36 dead in 48 hours

7/6/13

 

 

Egyptians were on edge Saturday after clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted president Mohammed Morsi left at least 36 people dead and 210 wounded two days after his removal from office.

 

In the country's capital Cairo only a fraction of the city's normally heavy traffic was on the streets amid worries that violence could flare up again. Security forces stepped up their presence near the largest concentration of Morsi supporters on the streets: A sit-in outside a mosque in Cairo's eastern Nasr City district, a traditionally Muslim Brotherhood stronghold.

 

Gunmen also shot dead a Christian priest while he shopped for food in an outdoor market in the northern Sinai Peninsula Saturday.

 

(Snip)

 

 

 

I have a question. Why are they talking to Mike the huckster Huckabee? Exactly what expertise on Egyptian politics, does he bring to justify taking up the majority of this segment?

This is what drives me nuts about these talking head shows. They could bring someone in that actually knows what in the heck they are talking about (names available on request), and inform their viewers. I know this is a really radical concept, right out there on the edge. News flash!!! Not everything happening in the world leads back to the Community Organizer In Chief. How about letting people know who the players are, the background leading up to this?

 

/Rant

[Valin]

ElBaradei to be Named Egypt's Prime Minister

Leader of Group that Sought Morsi's Ouster Is Selected by Interim President

TAMER EL-GHOBASHY,and CHARLES LEVINSON

7/6/13

 

Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of a leading group that opposed Egypt's ousted president, has been chosen to become the nation's prime minister by its interim president, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.

 

According to Khaled Dawoud, a spokesman for the National Salvation Front, which Mr. ElBaradei leads, interim President Adly Mansour will swear in Mr. ElBaradei on Saturday evening, the AP reported.

 

Earlier, Mr. Mansour met with representatives of political parties, the military and the judiciary at the Presidential Palace in Cairo on Saturday to begin planning how to implement the military's transition plan, which calls for an interim government to rule Egypt while an appointed committee drafts a new constitution and new elections are held.

(Snip)

[Valin]

John McCain Sticks his finger in the wind. And Gets it wrong.

[Valin]

John McCain Sticks his finger in the wind. And Gets it wrong.

Model of Maverick Consistency

Andrew C. McCarthy

July 6, 2013

 

(Snip)

 

So now that the military has finally done what McCain said should have been done in the first place, what does McCain want to the U.S. to do? Why, cut off American aid to the Egyptian military, of course. After all, the military has overturned the vote of the people.

 

Man, Republicans sure are shrewd to keep taking their cues from this guy.