Will Obama Stand With or Against the Egyptian People?

[Keukasmallies]

Yes

[Nanker]

Obama will stand with Obama.

He's a feckless politician who leads from behind the French or whatever momentary cover he can find that suits his purpose.

[John Adams]

Egypt elects (let's use that term loosely but still) a president. They give him 1 year and now B word that things aren't better.

 

Let's all appreciate our peaceful power transitions for a moment and hope the next election is a fairer one than the last.

 

Once Ramadan starts, this thing may simmer down.

Edited July 2, 2013 by John Adams

[B-Man]

Chicago pol Obama lectures Egypt's president on the needs of democracy

 

By Andrew Malcolm

Now that the situation in Egypt has reached crisis level, President Obama inserted himself there with a telephone call to embattled President Mohammed Morsi.

 

Exactly 53 weeks ago, Obama was praising the election of Islamist Morsi to head the government of a country that receives more than a billion dollars a year in U.S. aid.

 

Obama is still traveling about Africa with his family. But according to a White House summary (scroll down for the full text), Obama finally telephoned Morsi on Monday to "convey his concerns about recent developments in Egypt." No kidding.

 

These developments include mass anti-government demonstrations by millions of Egyptians in several cities against Morsi's year-old government and his insular Muslim Brotherhood organization. The brotherhood's headquarters was sacked Sunday in violent demonstrations that saw 16 killed and hundreds injured.

 

The Egyptian military, still widely revered for its revolutionary role in the 1950's, gave Morsi a 48-hour ultimatum to address the concerns of the democratic protesters or it would intervene to ensure stability for new elections. The army vowed to play no ongoing political role.

 

http://news.investor...m#ixzz2Xtgt8aT9

 

 

 

.

[DC Tom]

 

Chicago pol Obama lectures Egypt's president on the needs of democracy

 

By Andrew Malcolm

 

Now that the situation in Egypt has reached crisis level, President Obama inserted himself there with a telephone call to embattled President Mohammed Morsi.

 

Exactly 53 weeks ago, Obama was praising the election of Islamist Morsi to head the government of a country that receives more than a billion dollars a year in U.S. aid.

 

Obama is still traveling about Africa with his family. But according to a White House summary (scroll down for the full text), Obama finally telephoned Morsi on Monday to "convey his concerns about recent developments in Egypt." No kidding.

 

These developments include mass anti-government demonstrations by millions of Egyptians in several cities against Morsi's year-old government and his insular Muslim Brotherhood organization. The brotherhood's headquarters was sacked Sunday in violent demonstrations that saw 16 killed and hundreds injured.

 

The Egyptian military, still widely revered for its revolutionary role in the 1950's, gave Morsi a 48-hour ultimatum to address the concerns of the democratic protesters or it would intervene to ensure stability for new elections. The army vowed to play no ongoing political role.

 

http://news.investor...m#ixzz2Xtgt8aT9

 

 

 

.

 

 

I wonder what Obama's advice to Morsi was. "Tell them that you and the Muslim Brotherhood are driving, and they can sit in the back seat." "Invite the protesters over for beer on the Abdeen Palace lawn." "Find a dead Palestinian and tell the crowd 'If I had a son, it would look just like him.'" "Just tell the protesters you didn't know anything was wrong until you saw it on CNN," "Remind them that, unlike George Bush, you personally got rid of Musharraf." "Did you thoroughly investigate the protersters' tax status? You should do that..."

[Nanker]

Sage advice, that.

It certainly is the voice of experience because that did work for him.

[B-Man]

The Utter Chaos of the Obama Administration’s Egypt Policy

 

By David French

 

Consider the following three events.

 

First, on May 10, 2013, the Obama Administration elected to waive human rights restrictions placed on American military aid to Egypt, freeing up $1.3 billion for the Muslim Brotherhood regime’s military without the required showing that the “Government of Egypt is supporting the transition to civilian government, including holding free and fair elections and implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion and due process of law.”

 

In other words, the Morsi government could keep funding the military even as it brutally oppressed dissent, including Egypt’s embattled Coptic Christian community.

 

Fast-forward to Monday, July 1, 2013. The corrupt, oppressive Muslim Brotherhood government had just faced what some were counting among the largest public protests in history. And here’s our president:

On Monday, the US president, Barack Obama, indicated that Morsi had not yet lost his backing. “We don’t make those decisions just by counting the number of heads in a protest march but we do make decisions based on whether or not a government is listening to the opposition, maintaining a free press, maintaining freedom of assembly, not using violence or intimidation, conducting fair and free elections,” he said.

 

Wait. What? Do you not remember that you just waived those very same human rights requirements not even two months ago? How much could you possibly care about these basic liberties?

 

 

Now fast-forward to today, July 3, when we learn that the Administration does actually care:

Officials have also warned the Egyptian military that a military coup [against the Muslim Brotherhood] would trigger U.S. legislation cutting off all U.S. aid, which totals about $1.5 billion per year

.

 

For those keeping score at home, the Obama Administration waives human rights requirements when the Muslim Brotherhood is in power but then threatens to impose those very same waived requirements when the military — our decades-long ally within Egypt — threatens to assert control.

 

 

I erred in the title of my post by calling the policy “chaos.” It’s not chaos. It makes perfect sense in context with Administration actions from the Green Revolution to the “Arab Spring.” Allies are thrown under the bus with alacrity, enemies are wooed with money and weapons — and through it all, radicals prosper and Christians die.

 

 

 

.

Edited July 2, 2013 by B-Man

[OCinBuffalo]

I wonder what Obama's advice to Morsi was. "Tell them that you and the Muslim Brotherhood are driving, and they can sit in the back seat." "Invite the protesters over for beer on the Abdeen Palace lawn." "Find a dead Palestinian and tell the crowd 'If I had a son, it would look just like him.'" "Just tell the protesters you didn't know anything was wrong until you saw it on CNN," "Remind them that, unlike George Bush, you personally got rid of Musharraf." "Did you thoroughly investigate the protersters' tax status? You should do that..."

 

Yeah, that's right Tom, just keep quoting all the Fox News one-liners while pretending that this makes you witty and erudite.

 

If anybody has been watching too much Fox News, it's you.

[B-Man]

Some one needs some new material.

 

Just repeating Fox news sarcasm in evey thread is stale.......................

 

.

[OCinBuffalo]

Some one needs some new material.

 

Just repeating Fox news sarcasm in evey thread is stale.......................

 

.

 

Some one needs to read more, comprehend more, and then comment. This is: "targeted" sarcasm.

 

Edit: Oh, and the other thing? someone needs to realize that the "target" is one of the more famous "I haven't been to PPP since 2009, when I suddenly realized that my behavior on that board from 2005 on, and Obama's behavior, were going to combine to make a perfect storm of: hazing for me, every...single...day. So, I ran far, far away".

 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2013 by OCinBuffalo

[B-Man]

Some one needs to read more, comprehend more, and then comment. This is: "targeted" sarcasm.

 

Edit: Oh, and the other thing? someone needs to realize that the "target" is one of the more famous "I haven't been to PPP since 2009, when I suddenly realized that my behavior on that board from 2005 on, and Obama's behavior, were going to combine to make a perfect storm of: hazing for me, every...single...day. So, I ran far, far away".

 

 

 

 

 

I was well aware of your "I'm laying a trap, don't interfere" tendencies.

 

It doesn't change the fact that it is boring for the rest of us.

 

 

 

.

[GG]

Egypt elects (let's use that term loosely but still) a president. They give him 1 year and now B word that things aren't better.

 

Let's all appreciate our peaceful power transitions for a moment and hope the next election is a fairer one than the last.

 

Once Ramadan starts, this thing may simmer down.

 

Early stage democracy, like comedy, isn't pretty.

[B-Man]

Obama leery of intervention in Mideast

 

WASHINGTON (AP) - From Egypt to Syria to Iraq and beyond, the Obama administration is determined to show it will only go so far to help save nations in chaos from themselves.

President Barack Obama has long made it clear that he favors a foreign policy of consultation and negotiation, but not intervention, in the persistent and mostly violent upheavals across the Mideast. And he appears determined not to deviate this week even to help reverse turbulence in Egypt, one of the United States' most important Arab allies.

U.S. officials say the Obama administration delivered pointed warnings Tuesday to three main players in the latest crisis to grip Egypt as hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded Tahrir Square in Cairo to demand President Mohammed Morsi's ouster over his hard-line Islamist policies. The powerful Egyptian military appeared poised to overthrow him.

The administration stopped short of demanding that Morsi take specific steps, the officials said, and instead offered strong suggestions that are backed by billions of dollars in U.S. aid to ease the tensions.

The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the delicate diplomacy that is aimed at soothing the unrest and protecting Egypt's status as a bulwark of Mideast stability. Yet the warnings were unlikely to placate the protesters gathered at the site of Egypt's Arab Spring revolution two years ago, many of whom have accused the U.S. of siding with Morsi.

"The United States is only looking after their interests. They will only bet on the winning horse, and the winning horse is always chosen by the people," an ultraconservative member of the Salafist movement who would only identify himself as Amr, 31, said Tuesday night at Tahrir Square. "At the end of the day it is the people who say that who stays and who goes."

It should come as little surprise that Obama, who is grappling with a recovering economy, a war-weary public at home and diminished U.S. status as a global superpower abroad, would not wade into foreign conflicts. Obama campaigned by promising to end the war in Iraq, which he did in 2011; he now plans to withdraw most, if not all, U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year and inevitably will face pitched pleas from Kabul to reconsider as the deadline nears.

 

http://apnews.myway..../DA79SPAG0.html

 

 

.

Edited July 3, 2013 by B-Man

[B-Man]

Well, so much for that.............

 

 

Egyptian Military Ousts Morsi, Suspends Constitution

 

On Wednesday, Gen. Abdel Fatah Said Al-Sisi announced a military coup in Egypt. He said that the Constitution had been suspended, that early elections would take place, and that there would be a “code of ethics” for the media. He stated that the chief of the Constitutional court would be taking charge during a transitional period before another election. He said the new government would be “diverse and include all the people,” and that the constitution would be revised to reverse changes made by ousted Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi.

 

Al-Sisi said there would be a code of ethics for the media that would “establish values and ethics for the media to follow.” He also stated that there would be a committee for reconciliation from leaders who are credible. The armed forces, he said, call on the great Egyptian people with its various groups to continue to have peaceful protests and end the crisis. He also said that the military warned it would take action against anyone moving beyond peaceful protest.

 

“May Allah preserve Egypt and its people,” al-Sisi concluded.

 

UPDATES: A Morsi aide has said that Morsi has been removed to an undisclosed location.

 

Dr. Mohammed El-Baradei, a leader of the anti-Morsi opposition, stated that he hopes "all of us come back as reconciled people together. I hope that this 'road map' will be a beginning to continue with the revolution for which the Egyptian people have spent dearly to achieve social justice for every Egyptian man and woman."

 

CNN reports the sound of gunfire near pro-Morsi demonstrators, adding that Muslim Brotherhood followers had been training with sticks in preparation for violence. The crowd is chanting "victory or martyrdom." The Egyptian military, CNN reports, is 400 to 500 yards down from the pro-Morsi demonstrations.

 

Associated Press reports that Egyptian defense leaders have told US officials that there will be no long-term military rule, telling Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsy that a civilian government would be installed shortly. The Egyptian military has reportedly stated that it will protect US citizens in Egypt. AP also reports that American Councils for International Education in Washington, D.C., announced that it would be evacuating 18 Arabic language program students from Egypt to Morocco thanks to security concerns. The students hail from the Universities of Oklahoma, Michigan, Texas, Maryland, and Michigan State.

 

President Mohammed Morsi's Twitter account has called the military's announcement a "full coup." Morsi has been quoted as stating that today's events "represent a full coup categorically rejected by all the free men of our nation."

 

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the time frame of the early election will be determined by the interim administration.

 

The US embassy in Cairo is closed Wednesday and was scheduled to be closed Thursday thanks to July 4, as well as for the weekend, according to CNN.

 

http://www.breitbart...ary-ousts-Morsi

 

 

 

 

PHOTOS...

 

Oil Above $100...

 

U.S. DUMPS MORSI...

 

 

 

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[Jon in Pasadena]

When the Egyptian military is more liberal than you are, you know you have a problem.

[B-Man]

Not to worry, our administration has sprung into action.....................

 

 

"As I have said since the Egyptian Revolution, the United States supports a set of core principles, including opposition to violence, protection of universal human rights, and reform that meets the legitimate aspirations of the people. The United States does not support particular individuals or political parties, but we are committed to the democratic process and respect for the rule of law. Since the current unrest in Egypt began, we have called on all parties to work together to address the legitimate grievances of the Egyptian people, in accordance with the democratic process, and without recourse to violence or the use of force.

 

The United States is monitoring the very fluid situation in Egypt, and we believe that ultimately the future of Egypt can only be determined by the Egyptian people. Nevertheless, we are deeply concerned by the decision of the Egyptian Armed Forces to remove President Morsy and suspend the Egyptian constitution. I now call on the Egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent process, and to avoid any arbitrary arrests of President Morsy and his supporters. Given today’s developments, I have also directed the relevant departments and agencies to review the implications under U.S. law for our assistance to the Government of Egypt".

 

 

 

.

Edited July 4, 2013 by B-Man

[B-Man]

 

Despite Obama Administration’s Entreaties, Egyptian Military Deposes Morsi

 

Despite a series of private and public warnings in the last 48 hours from top Obama administration officials to Egypt’s generals not to depose the country’s first elected leader, the military sprung into action Wednesday and unseated the Muslim Brotherhood aligned president, Mohammed Morsi.

 

 

The actions from the military lay bare the limited influence the Obama administration has over the leadership of an Egyptian military that gets $1.3 billion a year in aid from the United States and relies on American spare parts and training to function, while also perhaps suggesting that the private warnings delivered from top Obama officials like Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel could have been stronger.

 

 

“There was a press to avoid the kind of turbulence we have seen today,” one U.S. official involved in reacting to the crisis in Egypt told the Daily Beast. “But the jury is out on precisely what the next steps are. We will see what the process as defined by the military and their statement leads to.”

 

 

<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/03/despite-obama-administration-s-entreaties-egyptian-military-deposes-morsi.html">http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/03/despite-obama-administration-s-entreaties-egyptian-military-deposes-morsi.html

[IDBillzFan]

Not to worry, our administration has sprung into action.....................

 

 

That photo looks just like the one they sent during the attack on Benghazi.

 

No...wait...

[B-Man]

That photo looks just like the one they sent during the attack on Benghazi.

 

No...wait...

 

Oh................here is the room the night our Ambassador died

 

[Koko78]

Oh................here is the room the night our Ambassador died

 

 

Cut the brass some slack. There were fundraisers to attend. Obama's re-election efforts were far more important than the lives of a few paltry State Dept. employees and an Ambassador no one ever heard of. It's not like the guy was Obama's son.