"Tell Old Pharaoh..."

22 November declaration

• All investigations into the killing of protesters or the use of violence
  against them will be re-conducted; trials of those accused will be re-held
• All constitutional declarations, laws and decrees made since Mr Mursi
  assumed power cannot be appealed or cancelled by any individual, or political or governmental body
• The public prosecutor will be appointed by the president for a fixed term of
  four years, and must be aged at least 40
• The constituent assembly's timeline for drafting the new constitution has
  been extended by two months
• No judicial authority can dissolve the constituent assembly or the upper
  house of parliament (Shura Council)
• The president is authorised to take any measures he sees fit in order to
  preserve the revolution, to preserve national unity or to safeguard national
  security.

 ------------------------------------------ 

"Go Down Moses. Tell Old Pharaoh to let my people go..." An African American Hymn.

Mursi has "cracked the code." So long as he assists the "Israel friendly community" with its insoluble Palestinian problem, he can do whatever he likes in Egypt or anywhere else.. The military subvention from the US? Don't worry about it. It's "in the bag." Mursi's assumption of power marks the end of Egypt's recent experiment with the possibility of actual representative democracy in a country with little demonstrated talent for that form of government.  With Mursi's apparent success at mediation over Gaza, Egypt resumes her natural place as one of the grand arbiters of political life in the Middle East.  The US created this situation by its abandonment of Mubarak.  Now Mubarak et al will be tried again. Expect a flight out of Egypt by secularists and Chhristians as the import of this naked assumption of dictatorial power sinks in.  pl

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20451208

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/58950/Egypt/Politics-/Morsi-declaration-hailed-by-supporters,-deemed-cou.aspx

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20458148

 

 

Comments

[Abu Sinan]

My wife's family back in Egypt is already talking about the "next revolution". We'll see how that turns out. I dont think the MB will go down as easy as Mubarak did.

By the way, where did the symbol come from you used above? "This is the glorious Qur'an. Prepare yourself"?

[Abu Sinan]

The wife has said it is an old version of the MB symbol.

[Fred]

That's one heck of a Black Friday deal. Sell out our own national interests for a Muslim Brotherhood dictator. Wonderful. I'm sure our leadership will not fail to disappoint in the obfuscation of the obvious. I wonder how many Congressional hearings will shout about "Benghazi!" and say nothing of what is happening in Egypt?

[Kieran]

This won't stand IMO - a poorly thought out power grab in the flush of first success. The MB's grip on the street and state institutions is precarious. Mursi will backpedal.

[Doug Tunnell]

Col. Lange,
The State Dept. says it is still gathering information about this turn of events. Coming on the heels of his joint effort on the Gaza truce with Sec. Clinton what are the chances this has already been sanctioned by the Obama administration ?

[kao_hsien_chih]

I have this lingering suspicion that what this is setting up is for the remnants of Mubarak regime to return power by a coup against the Mursi gov't and declare themselves "savior of the revolution and democracy," the same revolution originally launched against themselves...

[turcopolier]

KHC

I hope that will happen and soon. pl

[turcopolier]

DT

"what are the chances this has already been sanctioned by the Obama administration?"

Zero. The US government is not evil. It is merely stupid. Sergeant Striker was right. pl

[Kieran]

That is the scenario predicted by many gloomy revolutionaries in the aftermath of the first round of the presidential elections. According to this view the presidency is a poisoned chalice. Egypt's economic situation is dire (deficit at 11% of GDP, massive debt, much reduced tourism and foreign investment) and unpopular measures (lifting fuel subsidies, for example) will have to be taken for which Mursi will hold the bag. The state apparatus remains on the whole culturally hostile to the MB. Half of Egyptians didn't vote for Mursi and many of those who did, did so as the lesser of two evils and on the basis that "we'll go back to Tahrir if he tries anything funny". This looks like the exploitation of an opportune moment in a somewhat desperate quest for maneuvering space.

[turcopolier]

kieran

"the scenario predicted by many gloomy revolutionaries in the aftermath of the first round of the presidential elections"

Count me in. My experience of humanity tells me that the, true, the brave and the clean are few and far between and those that are like that were schooled to be. pl

[jonst]

He can do whatever he wants, as far as I'm concerned. So can Bibi....F'm both. I wish we would wash our hands of all of them.....the main issues confronting the US are to be found at home.

[Clifford Kiracofe]

The MB and House of Saud have been allies for decades:

"In 1948, Hermann Eilts, one of America’s premier Arabists, was a young diplomat in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. When I interviewed him for my book, he told me that he met Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, in Jeddah. “He used to come to Saudi Arabia for money, actually. I met him at the home of the then-Saudi deputy minister of finance, who was a man who was himself very pious and who handled Banna. His name was Sheikh Mohammad Sorour…and it was Sorour who handled most of the financial matters with the Muslim Brotherhood.” In fact, Saudi Arabia has funded the Muslim Brotherhood throughout its existence.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Muslim Brotherhood twice tried to assassinate President Nasser of Egypt, Saudi Arabia’s biggest enemy at the time. The Saudis weren’t unhappy about that.

In the 1970s, President Sadat of Egypt re-established the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo, with the explicit help of Saudi Arabia’s chief of intelligence, Kamal Adham, who personally led a Muslim Brotherhood delegation from Saudi Arabia back to Egypt, where they quickly took root again, with Saudi financial help and Sadat’s patronage. The Saudis loved that the Brotherhood was anti-communist and anti–Arab nationalist.

From the 1970s on, Saudi Arabia poured millions of dollars into Egypt in support of the Muslim Brotherhood, among other things helping them push Al Azhar, the leading center of Islamic scholarship, increasingly into the camp of ultraconservatives, from the Muslim Brotherhood to the Salafis to the Wahhabis."
"http://www.thenation.com/blog/168871/saudi-arabia-and-brotherhood-what-new-york-times-missed#

Going back into the 19th century, wasn't al-Afghani linked to British, French and other secret services? Also, didn't he have several European lodge connections? Likewise for certain of the MB: yes, no, sort of? The invisible is often more interesting than the visible in politics, IMO.

[Charles I]

When is any of this ever going to come back on the Saudis in a big way?

[Clifford Kiracofe]

How stable is the oil bearing Eastern Province which is Shia? And it's a little dicey along the Yemen border.

There are 20 million plus people there and about 10,000 princes...one would think something will give at some point.

[turcopolier]

Clifford

The SANG full time force exists to control the Eastern Province. This includes both the modernised force and the rest (most) of the SANG full time force. There is also a reserve force. they are all manned by beduin of the tribes of the Ikhwan Army of the 20s. pl

[Clifford Kiracofe]

The Neocons have a plan for the Eastern Province although what they are smoking is anyone's guess. Max Singer of the Hudson Institute in 2002:

http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=1659

[Joseph Moroco]

If I were ever to write a high school civics text book, it would include the following; Rule by decree is part of normal order of governance in many countries. In the United States, a decree is called and Executive Order.

[Harper]

I think it is essential to see the continuity of Morsi's recent actions asserting extra-constitutional powers. From the time of King Farouk, through the military coups, including both Nasser and later Sadat and Mubarak, Egypt has been ruled by a strongman. The fact that Morsi is a democratically elected strongman is nothing new. Both Sadat and Mubarak held elections and won by landslides. Mubarak ruled by emergency decree from the first day he came into office when Sadat was assassinated, and he kept the state of emergency in force until his own ouster from power. The main difference between Morsi and the previous dictators is that he is Islamist and comes from the Muslim Brotherhood. The MB has been part of the power structure in Egypt for a very long time. When the British and the US wanted to wage war on Nasser, they employed the MB to challenge his authority. Now, in the aftermath of the Turkey rise of political Islam, replacing the generals, and the Arab Awakening, the Islamic factor is on the ascent, but the basic organization of the society remains relatively constant. Despite the best fantasies of the project democracy crowd in Washington, elections are not synonymous with representative government. Egypt is being Egypt, and Morsi has shown that he has a capacity to operate on the regional stage and restore Egypt's role as a leading Sunni Arab state. I am told that Prince Bandar and the Saudis are looking for some way to undermine Morsi and the MB to reinstate their own preferred dictator, General Shafik, who remains now in exile in the UAE. I suspect that Morsi will split the opposition and make a deal with the secularists to avoid a big, big showdown, which will otherwise reach a boiling point tomorrow, when a mass demo has been called for Tahrir Square to protest Morsi's recent decrees.

[turcopolier]

Morocco

In the US you cannot issue an EO that violates an existing law or the constitution. pl

[Joseph Moroco]

I shot from the hip. It being my expectation that as there are over 13,000 EOs, not all would be constitutionally kosher. I did a tiny bit of research and though I found some claimed evidence, it was from websites that I don't have absolute trust in.

In my meager defense, I quote Paul Begala on his love of Clinton era proclamations,
"Stroke of the pen. 'Law of the land. Kinda cool.'' I would guess he believes el jefe can make extra-constitutional law and is happy if it is an ideological soul-brother doing it.

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Yes, cracked the code:

"Joel Rubin, a former State Department official who worked on Mideast issues, warned against rushing to judgment on Morsi.

"The real strategic cornerstone for our relationship with Egypt has its grounding in the security relationship with Israel," he said. "And so far, that has been maintained."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121127/us-us-egypt/?utm_hp_ref=media&ir=media

Mr. Rubin:

"Joel Rubin is the Director of Policy and Government Affairs at Ploughshares Fund. He is a former congressional aide and diplomat, having worked for two senior Democratic Senators on foreign policy, defense, and appropriations issues and at the State Department in both Near Eastern Affairs and Political-Military Affairs, winning numerous awards. A frequent commentator on foreign policy and national security affairs for CBS, Al Jazeera, the BBC, the Washington Post, the Daily Beast, and USA Today, he also blogs frequently on Huffington Post and writes a monthly political column for the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. Previously, Joel was the Deputy Director/Chief Operating Officer of the National Security Network and was also the founding Political and Government Affairs Director of J Street and JStreetPAC, the political home of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement. A former Peace Corps Volunteer, Joel holds a joint Master’s degree in Public Policy and Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor’s degree in Politics from Brandeis University. Joel lives in Maryland with his wife and three children. "
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-rubin/