Once More Into Egypt

In case you weren't paying attention, Egypt is a mess. The Obama administration is not without blame. Certainly ex-president Hosni Mubark was a dictator. But he was our dictator. In that part of the world, that counts for something. Unless, of course, you are President Obama. Even though Mubarak got along with the US and acted as a fairly peaceful buffer for Israel he had to go.

Unfortunately CAIR, The Council On American Islamic Relations, firmly has the ear of President Obama. Cair is also a strong supporter of, if not an affiliate of, The Muslim Brotherhood and has no place in the monitoring of or directing the path of the United States in the middle east. When Egypt instituted democratic elections the Muslim Brotherhood was destined to win because they were focused and highly organized. The Brotherhood is an Islamist organization dedicated to restoring the Caliphate.

They did win and Mohamed Morsi became President of Egypt. In the mid-east, things are seldom what we think or hope that they are. As time passed, Morsi himself became more and more dictatorial. It seemed that their first democratic election was destined to be their last democratic election.

As they are wont to do in that part of the world, the people took to the street. As the anti-Morsi crowd flocked to the squares the pro-Morsi supporters were there to meet them. Blood was shed and people died. The Islamists went after the Coptic Christians, just because they could. It was a country on fire. In some cases literally.

The Egyptian Army are a rough bunch. Middle eastern armies tend to be that way. But the leadership is smart, well trained, and love their country. I had an Egyptian friend that recently passed. He was an educated man. Although he had lived in the United States for most of his life he still loved the country of his birth. About the time the riots were getting into full swing, he and I had a discussion about Egypt's present and future. We both arrived at the same decision. If Egypt was to survive and be part of the international community, the army had to take a hand.

The problem is that it has gotten very messy.  So the western countries panic willing to accept any solution that stops the bloodshed. The Muslim Brotherhood has no compunctions about blood being shed. Including their own. They feel that their death will be martyrdom and will include the promised advantages of paradise. No one, as yet, has reported back on the honesty of that promise. Call me a doubter. Ultimately, this started in Egypt and must end in Egypt. The rest of the world has no vote.

But if Egypt is to survive with their magnificent history in tact they must go through this painful rebirth. The Egyptian military needs the continued good will of the United States. If we take that away Egypt could turn into the next Afghanistan. That would be a sorry thing.