The tragedy that has befallen Egypt has no end as I write this.
The two "sit ins" were cleared. As Gigi Ibrahim, the eloquent young activist that first came to fame during the Revolution of 2011, said on her twitter account the price of the clearing of two sit ins was 20 Churches burnt, hundres killed and thousands injured. I could also not agree with her more that August 14 was one of the most tragic of days in Egypt's history.
I have been assessing the reaction of the World. Although I welcomed the swift condementation by the US Secretary of State and universal rejection of this move by other World Leaders, the Generals that run Egypt today seem not to care at all. Marwan Bashara of Al Jazeera noted that the US has invested close to 66 Billion Dollars in Egypt's Military that has over 1000 tanks and 216 F-16's. Despite this long-standing relationship and the billion dollars in aid, it appears that Egypt's Generals do not really care about what the US or the World Thinks. This is as Sinai has degraded into further lawleness which has drawn Israel into it. The story of the Israeli Drone Strike that killed four radicals was buried in yesterday's edition of the Wall Street Journal.
Although apparently Cairo is calm as the overnight curfew is lifted, the so-called roadmap seems to be in shatters. My only reaction was to laugh when I heard the interim Egyptian Prime Minister's statement that the decision to clear out was "Not Easy". I was also quite amused when apologists for the military regime talked about an Amnesty International report from earlier this month about kidnapping and torture going on. This is as a concerted campaign has commenced against the Muslim Brotherhood by State Broadcast organs. General Sisi has clearly decided to crush the brotherhood to once in for all settle a 85-year old fight between the Brotherhood and the Secular State.
I was gratified that El Baradei, the Interim Vice President submitted his resignation. Someone had to speak up beyond the opposition. The challenge for the roadmap ahead was also laid out by Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition in Malaysia when he noted that, "....This is not a failure of the revolution. This is a military coup in the borrowed garb of a people's revolt, turning the Arab spring into its winter of discontent. The course of true democracy never did run smooth. What more a nascent democracy such as Egypt's. Those democratically elected must be allowed to complete the tasks they were elected to do, or at very least where there is overwhelming demand from the people for a fresh mandate, be allowed to call for fresh elections. As long as they stay true to the constitutional process and uphold the rule of law, there is neither moral nor legal justification to remove them...."
Under the name of the Interim President, an annoucement was made declaring a state of Emergency throughout the Country for 30 days. If there is massive public support, then why the need for Martial Law?
Although I have had my profound disagreements with US Senator Graham and Senator McCain, they called it right when they called what happened in Egypt for what it was: A Coup. They also noted that things were on the edge of the abyss. As the largest country in the Arab World and a major center of Islamic Scholarship, what happens there matters. I noted this as well--and the tragic events of the past 24 hours has proven it ever more.
The tragedy continues full force. I wonder when will Egyptians actually get a Break?
Also released to http://www.outsiderviews.com, retrieved 8/15/2013
The two "sit ins" were cleared. As Gigi Ibrahim, the eloquent young activist that first came to fame during the Revolution of 2011, said on her twitter account the price of the clearing of two sit ins was 20 Churches burnt, hundres killed and thousands injured. I could also not agree with her more that August 14 was one of the most tragic of days in Egypt's history.
I have been assessing the reaction of the World. Although I welcomed the swift condementation by the US Secretary of State and universal rejection of this move by other World Leaders, the Generals that run Egypt today seem not to care at all. Marwan Bashara of Al Jazeera noted that the US has invested close to 66 Billion Dollars in Egypt's Military that has over 1000 tanks and 216 F-16's. Despite this long-standing relationship and the billion dollars in aid, it appears that Egypt's Generals do not really care about what the US or the World Thinks. This is as Sinai has degraded into further lawleness which has drawn Israel into it. The story of the Israeli Drone Strike that killed four radicals was buried in yesterday's edition of the Wall Street Journal.
Although apparently Cairo is calm as the overnight curfew is lifted, the so-called roadmap seems to be in shatters. My only reaction was to laugh when I heard the interim Egyptian Prime Minister's statement that the decision to clear out was "Not Easy". I was also quite amused when apologists for the military regime talked about an Amnesty International report from earlier this month about kidnapping and torture going on. This is as a concerted campaign has commenced against the Muslim Brotherhood by State Broadcast organs. General Sisi has clearly decided to crush the brotherhood to once in for all settle a 85-year old fight between the Brotherhood and the Secular State.
I was gratified that El Baradei, the Interim Vice President submitted his resignation. Someone had to speak up beyond the opposition. The challenge for the roadmap ahead was also laid out by Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition in Malaysia when he noted that, "....This is not a failure of the revolution. This is a military coup in the borrowed garb of a people's revolt, turning the Arab spring into its winter of discontent. The course of true democracy never did run smooth. What more a nascent democracy such as Egypt's. Those democratically elected must be allowed to complete the tasks they were elected to do, or at very least where there is overwhelming demand from the people for a fresh mandate, be allowed to call for fresh elections. As long as they stay true to the constitutional process and uphold the rule of law, there is neither moral nor legal justification to remove them...."
Under the name of the Interim President, an annoucement was made declaring a state of Emergency throughout the Country for 30 days. If there is massive public support, then why the need for Martial Law?
Although I have had my profound disagreements with US Senator Graham and Senator McCain, they called it right when they called what happened in Egypt for what it was: A Coup. They also noted that things were on the edge of the abyss. As the largest country in the Arab World and a major center of Islamic Scholarship, what happens there matters. I noted this as well--and the tragic events of the past 24 hours has proven it ever more.
The tragedy continues full force. I wonder when will Egyptians actually get a Break?
Also released to http://www.outsiderviews.com, retrieved 8/15/2013
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