Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Perhaps a Return of Sanity to the Middle East

Egypt was a friendly nation once.
Hosni Mubarak was not a perfect man, nor a perfect leader, but he was miles above that of the Muslim Brotherhood representative Mohammed Morsi. Israel knew for thirty years that it had a partner on their Egyptian border and security from that particular front was relatively secure.

Who can forget the tragedy of the Camp David Peace Accord, engineered by President Carter -- yes, I do give him credit for that move -- between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and  Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, which ultimately got Sadat assassinated? It reminded us then that peace comes at great cost.

But it set in motion a policy in Egypt that withstood throughout Mubarak's years until a certain Chicago community organizer began to stir the pot. The so-called "Arab Spring" began with protests in Egypt which eventually culminated in our U.S. President calling for Mubarak to step down, which began a tumultuous disintegration of whatever civility existed in the Middle East. We're still in the throes of the chaos, from the tragic events in Libya to the current "rebel war" in Syria.

Resisting the temptation to make this all about Obama, I would be remiss if I didn't at least give him mention, for it seems clear to me that there is a certain agenda at play here where Obama ignores the seemingly legitimate cries for freedom of the people of Iran, for example, but sends arms to Islamist "rebels" in Syria, not to mention the tanks and warplanes and millions of dollars to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Is anyone at home even paying attention?

Also remember the alleged coup in Honduras a few years ago, in which this administration demanded the immediate return of Honduran ex-president Manuel Zelaya after his Congress had him removed for trying to usurp the Honduran Constitution. It seems our president has a problem with the word "Constitution", regardless of country.

So it will hardly be surprising to see if Obama condemns the Egyptian military's temporary suspension of their own Constitution until a swift election can be held. After all, the very word suspension should spark fears of tyranny, no? It will fit Obama's pattern of hypocrisy all too well.

The events of today have given the world hope of sanity returning to the Middle East, least not being the Egyptian people. The man in charge there right now -- General Abdel Fatah Said al-Sisi -- says that elections will be held quickly and the reigns handed back to the new Egyptian civilian government, something that seems all too American. George Washington couldn't wait to hand America back to the citizens, after all. So why not support the coup in Egypt?

This is the positive step I have seen in the Middle East since early 2011, and I welcome the news. Let's just hope that the people of Egypt use this opportunity wisely. General Al-Isis has included in his remarks the rights of "every man and woman". Sounds pretty good to me. Islamists don't include women in their prayers.




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