Egyptians Move Against
Muslim Brotherhood
by Dean Andromidas
July 9—The claim that the Egyptian Army carried out a coup against the "democratically elected" President Mohamed Morsi is base sophistry. Both Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were "democratically elected," and like them, Morsi used his mandate to systematically seize authoritarian powers, including legislative and executive powers that were beyond judicial oversight. Like President Barack Obama, he failed to keep his electoral promises, and was well on his way to entrenching the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Tahrir, an independent Egyptian daily, on July 4, ran an English-language headline at the top of its front page, addressing Obama directly: "It's a Revolution ... Not a Coup, Mr Obama!"
As soon as Morsi was removed, Egyptian Army Chief of Staff Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi named Adly Mahmoud Mansour, head of Egypt's High Constitutional Court, as the transitional president, with the mandate of overseeing the drafting of a new constitution, and for holding fresh elections. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Development Party has been invited to participate in this process.
Regional Implications
The overthrow of the Morsi regime came as a powerful reaction to the imposition of the new Sykes-Picot[1] policy across the region, which began with the two-year-long effort to violently overthrow the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and could end with a new world war. The Muslim Brotherhood is functioning as part of this Anglo-Saudi alliance, backed by Obama, against Syria. The Egyptian developments followed mass demonstrations in Turkey earlier this Spring, which protested not only the growing authoritarian policies of the Islamic Justice and Development party (AKP), but also its support for the overthrow of the Syrian government.
Morsi came to power as a result of the hijacking of the "Arab Spring" by the Anglo-Saudi-backed alliance of radical and al-Qaeda-linked terrorist Islamic groups, of which the Brotherhood was a key partner. This alliance transformed Libya's Arab Spring into a bloody civil war supported by military intervention of Great Britain, France, and the United States, that has left the country in chaos, and the Libyan people at the mercy of armed bands.
The transformation of the Syrian Arab Spring has gone even further, threatening to create a bloody sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shi'ites throughout the region, with the potential for an attack on Shi'ite Iran, and ultimately a nuclear confrontation between the United States and Russia.
The turning point was reached last month, when neocon and "humanitarian interventionist" factions in Washington demanded that the U.S. military bomb Syrian military bases, a plan that was vigorously opposed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey. Despite the Pentagon's opposition, Obama announced that military aid would be sent to the Syrian rebels, on the dubious grounds that the Syrian Army had used chemical weapons against its own people. That claim has been vigorously disputed by both the Russian government and the United Nations special investigative team that has been given access to the so-called "proof" assembled by Britain, Israel, France, and the U.S.
Within days of Obama's announcement that the U.S. would begin arming the Syrian opposition, Morsi ordered the cutting of diplomatic relations with Syria, while the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood held a conference, which Morsi addressed, calling for jihad and foreign military intervention against the Assad government, while attacking Syria's allies, Iran and Hezbollah, as Shi'ite "infidels."
"Army concern about the way President Mohamed Morsi was governing Egypt reached the tipping point when the head of state attended a rally packed with hardline fellow Islamists calling for holy war in Syria," reported Reuters July 3, citing unnamed Egyptian military sources.
According to Washington sources, the Egyptian Army kept its American counterparts fully informed about the plans to remove Morsi by no later than July 1, the day that the top Egyptian commanders made their decision to move. After an estimated 8-10 million Egyptians turned out in mass peaceful rallies on June 30, demanding Morsi's removal, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) determined that it was its "civic duty" to deliver on the popular demands.
Thus, the Egyptian Army's actions did not constitute a military coup. Furthermore, in deliberations between Egyptian military leaders and their American counterparts, including Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, JCS Chairman Dempsey, and Central Command head Gen. Lloyd Austin, the U.S. made clear that the Army could not resume power, but needed to create a civilian interim government and move to the drafting of a new constitution and popular elections immediately.
The removal of the Morsi government is bad news for Turkey, whose ruling Islamic Justice and Development Party had not only forged strong political ties with Morsi, but also shared his anti-Syria policy. While the Turkish government denounced the Egyptian Army for launching a "dirty coup," one Turkish commentator wrote in the Hurriyet Daily News, "If the hijacked 'spring' can be claimed back in Egypt ... we have to be ready to see the fallout in the rest of this region. That won't be good news for the AKP...."
Birol Akgün, of the Ankara-based Institute of Strategic Thinking, told Today's Zaman,
"It is not possible to expect the Turkish-Egyptian partnership, which flourished during the era of Morsi, who used to place great importance on ties with Ankara, to continue after this moment. It will be tough for Turkey to receive the same support from the Egyptian army regarding its Middle East policies. If the coup situation lasts for a while, Turkey's policies in the region will receive a major blow."
Renewing the Revolution
Egypt's interim president, Adly Mahmoud Mansour, in his swearing-in speech, thanked the "great Egyptian people: the master, the leader and the source of powers," for giving him the honor of serving as transitional president. Hailing the people for bringing the "glorious" 2011 revolution back on track, Mansour called for staying loyal to the ideals of the revolution, and ending "the worship of the ruler." Thanking the army, the judiciary, the police, and the media for their roles in the momentous turnaround, he declared that the only way to express the true will of the people is through a free, democratic, and just future, secured by genuine presidential and parliamentary elections.
On July 4, the National Salvation Front (NSF), the alliance, led by Nobel Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, that brought nearly one half of the nation's electorate into the streets June 30, issued a statement declaring,
"what Egypt is witnessing now is not a military coup by any standards. It was a necessary decision that the Armed Forces' leadership took to protect democracy, maintain the country's unity and integrity, restore stability and get back on track towards achieving the goals of the January 25 Revolution...."
The statement declared that chief-of-staff al-Sisi's decision to remove Morsi and suspend the constitution he had put in place, was made only after consultation with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, a prominent authority in Sunni Islam, and the Pope of the Coptic Christians, as well as the NSF, and a representative of the Salafist al-Nour Party. Al-Nour took part in the "rebel" campaign that organized what many consider to have been the world's largest demonstration ever, on June 30.
Dangers Ahead
The new revolution faces two dangers. The first is the danger that the Muslim Brotherhood—whose paramilitary force is considerable—will orchestrate an orgy of violence and terror by deploying its broad underground apparatus to turn Egypt into a new Syria.
A UN panel of experts has been investigating the massive smuggling of U.S.-, British-, and French-supplied weapons poured into Libya to overthrow the government of Muammar Qaddafi, which are now flooding into Syria, Egypt, and other countries. The just-released UN report documents that huge amounts of weaponry, including small, light, and heavy weapons, and thousands of rounds of ammunition, have been smuggled into Egypt. These weapons have fallen into the hands of criminal, as well as radical extremist, groups. Already, well-armed al-Qaeda-linked terror groups are operating on the Sinai Peninsula.
The core danger is the collapse of the Egyptian economy, the same condition that fueled the original Arab Spring. Morsi, who promised economic miracles, in reality, spent his mandate in consolidating and entrenching the power of the Brotherhood. The fact is, that Morsi's U.S and British backers did nothing to economically develop the country, which has led to soaring unemployment, collapse of industry, electricity shortages, and a deterioration of the general welfare.
The only hope for Egypt is the implementation of Glass-Steagall in the United States and Europe, which will replace the current genocidal financial system with a true credit system, that will extend massive low-interest credits for the development of infrastructure and industry. The necessary water, transport, and industrial projects have been outlined in great detail in the LaRouche movement's Emergency Program for an Economic Miracle in Southern Europe, the Mediterranean Region, and Africa. This report features a chapter on the "Africa Pass" which seeks to integrate the Nile Basin, from Egypt through Sudan and the Great Lakes region of East Africa, through the development of water and transport infrastructure.
[1]The Sykes-Picot Agreement, concluded on May 16, 1916, carved up the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire outside the Arabian peninsula, into satraps under British and French imperial control.
