Egypt Is Now Another Iran

[mudwhistle]

August 14, 2012
Fiasco: Islamists purge Egyptian Army
By James Lewis

Don't expect our navel-gazing media to take much notice, but our national security has just hit an Arctic iceberg, scraping long rows of steel rivets from our luxury ocean liner, and leaving a long, gaping gash in our bottom. Thousands of tons of icy seawater are pouring into the ship while you are reading these words, but Washington is too transfixed by the election to take notice. Until Election Day 2012, Obama's dance band will just keep playing happy tunes on our crazily tilting deck.

Still, the rest of us had better turn our attention to Egypt, where radical Islamists have just conducted a massive Blitzkrieg against the Egyptian Army, police, intelligence apparatus, and now the media.

Those Muslim fascists were put into power a few weeks ago, with the direct aid and support of the Obama administration and Hillary's State Department. Obama told us that the new dictator of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi, was a fine human being, and besides that, the Egyptian Army would keep most of the power anyway. So who cares that the Muslim Brotherhood always wants to wipe out Israel and America?

Reminder: Egypt has been the Arab pillar of peace in the Middle East for the last 30 years, after the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty was signed by Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. For making peace with Israel, Sadat was quickly assassinated by the Muslim Brotherhood, but his successor Hosni Mubarak kept the peace for three decades -- until Barack Hussein Obama ordered him in the most humiliating way to resign, in public, telling him that "Now means now!" Mubarak resigned and was put on trial on national television in his hospital bed behind iron jail bars, to rub in the humiliation even more.

Articles: Fiasco: Islamists purge Egyptian Army

 

[syrenn]

Did you really except anything else? I sure didn't.

 

[uscitizen]

FEAR! Build more bombs!

 

[mudwhistle]

FEAR! Build more bombs!

Dude....I've been in battles with those assholes.

They're not very nice people at all.

 

[waltky]

Morsi suckin' up to the Chinese...

Egyptian president accepts Chinese aid for infrastructure projects
Tuesday 28th August, 2012 - Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi Tuesday accepted 450 million yuan (around $71 million) aid from China and signed several economic and commercial agreements with his Chinese counterpart President Hu Jintao on his first state visit outside Arab world.

The 450 million yuan aid is to help Egypt finance infrastructure, electricity and environment projects, Egyptian news service Ahram reported. Morsi, who took over as Egypt's first freely-elected civilian and Islamist leader in June, also accepted Chinese donation of 300 police cars. Facing tough economic challenges in the wake of the uprising, which led to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, Morsi faces a tough challenge to attract foreign investments. Though Egypt still receives $1.3 billion a year in aid from the United States, most of it is used for defence needs.

During talks with Morsi, Chinese President said, "Since taking office, Mr. President has chosen China as one of his first countries to visit and this fully shows that your country attaches great importance to the desire to develop relations." Hu said China understands and respects the will of the Egyptian people, and supports them to choose political system and the path of development in accordance with their country's situation, reported state-owned Xinhua. The Chinese president assured that Chinese companies will be encouraged to invest in Egypt and help to train professionals. China also supports the efforts made by Egypt to safeguard national sovereignty and independence and to promote economic and social progress, Hu said.

Among the bilateral agreements signed by the two countries is a commitment by Beijing to provide 300 police cars to Egypt while the China Development Bank is to offer $200 million in credit to the National Bank of Egypt. Bilateral cooperation agreements in agriculture, the environment, telecommunications, tourism and science, were also signed by the two sides but details were not made known. Bilateral trade between Egypt and China reached $8.8 billion last year, up 40 per cent from 2008, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Morsi is accompanied by a large 80-member delegation of businessmen, who are keenly exploring opportunities in China and are hopeful of attracting Chinese investments to Egypt.

Violence in Syria were among issues discussed by the two leaders, Morsi's spokesman Yasser Ali told media. "There is an understanding from both sides that we have to work together to stop (the) bleeding in Syria's streets," he said emphasis that Egypt is in accord with China's of not favouring foreign military intervention in Syria. China has repeatedly called for political dialogue and efforts by the United Nations to resolve the Syria crisis, but has vetoed UN Security Council resolutions on the issue. Egypt expert Peter Mandaville said the Egyptian president's visit marked a willingness to expand diplomatic ties beyond the country's historic ally, the United States. "The symbolism of it is important in terms of the broader effort by Egypt to signal that it's going to diversify its portfolio of relationships," said Mandaville, a professor at George Mason University in the United States, reported AFP. "In the short term I think it's absolutely the case that Egypt, given its own economic situation, is pretty desperate to attract some lucrative Chinese investment."

On Wednesday, Egyptian president Morsi is scheduled to meet China's Premier Wen Jiabao, Vice President Xi Jinping and top legislator Wu Bangguo. On the conclusion of his three-day state visit, Morsi is scheduled to attend the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Iran, becoming Egypt's first leader in 30 years to visit the nation. He is also schedules to visit US next month for attending the UN General Assembly meet in New York.

Source

See also:

Egypt leader said to reach out to Sinai radicals
Aug 28,`12 -- Egypt's Islamist president is using former jihadists to mediate with radical Islamists in Sinai, trying to ensure a halt in militant attacks in return for a stop in a military offensive in the lawless peninsula, participants in the talks say.

The move marks a dramatic change from the iron fist policy of heavy crackdowns and waves of arrests under ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, which critics say only fueled support for militancy among Sinai's Bedouin population by subjecting them to torture and other abuses. But the dialogue and any possible truce could raise concerns in neighboring Israel, which has been targeted in cross-border militant attacks and has urged Egypt to stamp out the groups. The dialogue also raised concerns among some in Egypt that it would give a de facto recognition to some of the most hard-core, fringe Islamist movements, which have gained followers in Sinai and in other parts of the country. The mediation attempt shows a willingness by President Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood figure who became Egypt's first freely elected leader, to use his Islamist credentials to deal with such groups in hopes of keeping them away from violence.

Egypt's military launched a major military operation in the Sinai after suspected Islamic militants carried out a surprise ambush of Egyptian troops on the border with Israel and Gaza on Aug. 5, killing 16 soldiers, before driving into Israel in an apparent attempt to carry out an attack. There, they were stopped and killed by Israeli airstrikes. Since the ambush, thousands of troops backed by tanks and heavy equipment have been deployed in northern Sinai, near the Israeli border. The attack stunned the military and government and raised alarm over militants who had grown more powerful amid the collapse of central authority in Sinai after the fall of Mubarak. Over the past year and a half, attacks on police stations by armed men raising black banners similar to al-Qaida-linked groups became frequent, and militants - flush with weapons smuggled in from Libya - carried out attacks on security forces and several attacks into Israel, reportedly with the help from extremists in neighboring Gaza.

Still, the military operation seems to have avoided direct confrontations, apparently to avoid enflaming tensions with the population. There were several raids on alleged militant hideouts in the first few days, but none reported since. Instead, the troops appear to mainly be making a show of force, setting up checkpoints on main roads and around the main towns of northern Sinai. In one instance, security officials said they notified the military of a meeting of wanted militants in the north Sinai town of Sheikh Zuwayid, but orders came to let them go without intervention.

MORE

 

[Saigon]

It's funny that people were going ape shit a few months back about Egypt was going to be taken over by knife-wielding fascists, and when that didn't happen...there is just silence.

Here again we see the same old drivel trotted out, even when anyone who follows the news knows it's massively inaccurate.

Why can't posters acknowledge that Egypt being a democracy with an apparently moderate President is actually a good thing?

 

[Saigon]

Did you really except anything else? I sure didn't.

I don't think many people expected that Egypt would work so hard to reign in extremists, stand up to the army or promote the rights of women, but that IS what has happened.

I'd be interested to hear your comments on those news stories.

 

[waltky]

Morsi chides Iran & Syria, sparks walk-out...

Egypt leader slams Syrian regime during Iran visit
Aug 30,`12 -- In a clear rebuke to Syria's key ally Iran, Egypt's new president said Thursday that Bashar Assad's "oppressive" regime has lost its legitimacy and told an international conference in Tehran that the world must stand behind the Syrian rebels.

The rallying call by Mohammed Morsi - making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution - showed the huge divide between Iran's stalwart support of Assad and the growing network of regional powers pushing for his downfall. It also drove home the difficulties for Iran as host of a gathering of the 120-nation Nonaligned Movement, a Cold War-era group that Tehran seeks to transform into a powerful bloc to challenge Western influence. Iran's leaders say the weeklong meeting, which wraps up Friday, displays the inability of the West's attempt to isolate the country over its nuclear program. But Iran has been forced to endure stinging criticism from its most high-level participant as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon cited concerns about Iran's human rights record and said Iran's condemnations of Israel were unacceptable.

Morsi's address to the gathering further pushed Iran into a corner. In effect, he demanded Iran join the growing anti-Assad consensus or risk being further estranged from Egypt and other regional heavyweights such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Morsi has proposed that Iran take part in a four-nation contact group that would include Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to mediate an end to the Syrian crisis. The U.N. chief Ban also said Iran has a key role to play in finding a solution to end Syria's civil war, which activists say has claimed at least 20,000 lives. But Iran has given no signals of breaking ties with Assad, and the Syrian rebels fighting the regime say they reject Iran's participation in any peace efforts.

"The bloodshed in Syria is the responsibility of all of us and will not stop until there is real intervention to stop it," Morsi said. "The Syrian crisis is bleeding our hearts." Syrian delegates to the conference walked out during Morsi's speech. "Morsi's comments violated the traditions of the summit and are considered interference in Syrian internal affairs," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, who was heading the Syrian delegation. He also accused Morsi of "instigating bloodshed in Syria," according to quotes reported by the state-owned Al-Ikhbariya TV. He didn't elaborate. In another possible dig at Iran, Morsi gave credit to the Arab Spring wave of uprisings that put him in power and touched off the civil war in Syria. Iran has endorsed many of the revolts - describing them as a modern-day reflection of its Islamic Revolution more than three decades ago - but denounces the Syrian uprising as orchestrated by "enemies" that include Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

At the United Nations, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is expected to urge the Security Council later Thursday to set up a safe zone in Syria to protect thousands of civilians fleeing the civil war. But the initiative is almost certain to meet resistance from Council members such as Russia, which has supported the Assad dynasty for decades. Morsi's Sunni Muslim Brotherhood backers, Egypt's most powerful political group since the revolt, are opposed to Shiite Iran's staunch backing of the Syrian regime and its lethal crackdown on largely Sunni protesters. Assad is a follower of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

MORE

See also:

Egyptian attack on 'oppressive' Syria sparks walkout
30 August 2012 - Egypt's president has told a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) that the Syrian uprising is a "revolution against an oppressive regime".

Mohammed Mursi, making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian leader since 1979, said the movement had an "ethical duty" to support the uprising. His comments sparked a walkout by the Syrian delegation. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Mr Mursi's speech "incites continued bloodshed in Syria". Egypt has been holding the rotating presidency of the Nam, and Mr Mursi was handing the duty over to Iran during his visit.

He used his speech to tell delegates of the 120-member body: "Our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty, as it is a political and strategic necessity. "We all have to announce our full solidarity with the struggle of those seeking freedom and justice in Syria, and translate this sympathy into a clear political vision that supports a peaceful transition to a democratic system of rule that reflects the demands of the Syrian people for freedom."

He compared the anti-government movement in Syrian to the Palestinians, saying they were both "actively seeking freedom, dignity and human justice", and said Egypt was "ready to work with all to stop the bloodshed". Mr Mursi's visit is the first by an Egyptian leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Iran cut ties with President Anwar Sadat's administration over its signing of a peace treaty with Israel. Syria's delegation to Nam walked out of the conference room when Mr Mursi began speaking about the conflict, Egyptian and Syrian media reported. Iranian media said they had simply left to conduct an interview.

Syrian state media quoted Mr Muallem as saying the speech was "interference in Syria's internal affairs and incites continued bloodshed in Syria". The BBC's Iran correspondent, James Reynolds, says Syria's exit illustrates the strong divisions which could derail the summit. But Egypt and Iran have also been competing for many years to be seen as the natural leader of the region, our correspondent adds, and that fight is likely to be played out in Tehran.

'No more bullets'

 

[Indofred]

FEAR! Build more bombs!

Dude....I've been in battles with those assholes.

They're not very nice people at all.

Was that in the US of A or some other country as part of an invading army?

 

[Indofred]

Now let's have a look at Egypt.
Egypt is a heavily armed country.
Guess who did most of the arming.

Does anyone think that was a really good idea or is US meddling in middle eat politics a pile of shit that causes nothing but trouble?

 

[Saigon]

From today's news....

Egypt attacks Syrian oppression

Egypt's president has told a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) that the Syrian uprising is a "revolution against an oppressive regime".

Mohammed Mursi, making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian leader since 1979, said the movement had an "ethical duty" to support the uprising.

His comments sparked a walkout by the Syrian delegation.

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Mr Mursi's speech "incites continued bloodshed in Syria".

BBC News - Egyptian attack on 'oppressive' Syria sparks walkout

I look forward to Mudwhistle and Syreen commenting on this.

 

[bobcollum]

More blowback on the horizon eh?

 

[mudwhistle]

bump

 

[Saigon]

Mudwhistle -

Rather than just bump the thread - how about addressing some of the points raised?

I'd be really interested to hear how you managed to avoid all of the news coming out of Egypt this past month!

 

[Artevelde]

Mudwhistle -

Rather than just bump the thread - how about addressing some of the points raised?

I'd be really interested to hear how you managed to avoid all of the news coming out of Egypt this past month!

You probably mean the news about Egypt violating the terms of its peace treaty with Israel by sending in additional armour into the Sinai?

While i'm not alarmist about Egypt, the signs aren't good. I see the new regime trying to dismantle many of the safeguards against an Islamic regime and cuddling up to Iran. But the most worrying thing is that they will never be able to meet the economic expectations of their supporters and this, I fear, will inevitably give free reign to even more extreme elements.

The jury is still out, but I'm pessimistic.

 

[Dr Grump]

August 14, 2012
Fiasco: Islamists purge Egyptian Army
By James Lewis

Don't expect our navel-gazing media to take much notice, but our national security has just hit an Arctic iceberg, scraping long rows of steel rivets from our luxury ocean liner, and leaving a long, gaping gash in our bottom. Thousands of tons of icy seawater are pouring into the ship while you are reading these words, but Washington is too transfixed by the election to take notice. Until Election Day 2012, Obama's dance band will just keep playing happy tunes on our crazily tilting deck.

Still, the rest of us had better turn our attention to Egypt, where radical Islamists have just conducted a massive Blitzkrieg against the Egyptian Army, police, intelligence apparatus, and now the media.

Those Muslim fascists were put into power a few weeks ago, with the direct aid and support of the Obama administration and Hillary's State Department. Obama told us that the new dictator of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi, was a fine human being, and besides that, the Egyptian Army would keep most of the power anyway. So who cares that the Muslim Brotherhood always wants to wipe out Israel and America?

Reminder: Egypt has been the Arab pillar of peace in the Middle East for the last 30 years, after the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty was signed by Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. For making peace with Israel, Sadat was quickly assassinated by the Muslim Brotherhood, but his successor Hosni Mubarak kept the peace for three decades -- until Barack Hussein Obama ordered him in the most humiliating way to resign, in public, telling him that "Now means now!" Mubarak resigned and was put on trial on national television in his hospital bed behind iron jail bars, to rub in the humiliation even more.

Articles: Fiasco: Islamists purge Egyptian Army

Great source...

 

[mememe]

From today's news....

Egypt attacks Syrian oppression

Egypt's president has told a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) that the Syrian uprising is a "revolution against an oppressive regime".

Mohammed Mursi, making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian leader since 1979, said the movement had an "ethical duty" to support the uprising.

His comments sparked a walkout by the Syrian delegation.

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Mr Mursi's speech "incites continued bloodshed in Syria".

BBC News - Egyptian attack on 'oppressive' Syria sparks walkout

.

I will re-post my comment from a "Syrian" thread:

During the Non-Aligned Movement conference in Iran Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi openly opposed the legitimate government of Syria and sided with the aggressors, calling on the rest of the members of the Non-Aligned Movement to follow his example.

By doing so, Morsi put the Non-Aligned Movement before a choice: they can either give Egypt a shoeing and remain one of the last post-WW2 international institutions that at least try to preserve world's stability; or they can swallow Morsi's provocation making the world one step closer to the final polarisation before an all-out fight...

 

[BecauseIKnow]

Another idiot what does this have to U.S? Are you really scared of egypt? Or you're another one of those guys worrying for Israel?

 

[BecauseIKnow]

Is this piece of shit so called "article" by James Lewis some kind of proof?

 

[Saigon]

Is this piece of shit so called "article" by James Lewis some kind of proof?

Anyone genuinely interested in Egypt is more likely to be getting their knews from BBC, Al Jazeera or some major news source, but there are those people who do not read news to be informed, but to have their own prejudices confirmed.

As no major news source will agree with Mudwhistle's need for Egypt to be some militant wildman, he is down to nutcase blogs.