Egypt
July 3, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The New York Times claims that, for the Obama administration, the current crisis in Egypt is “a replay” of the crisis of early 2011 when protesters demanded the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. According to the Times: Then, as now, Mr. Obama has moved gingerly, placing a call to President Mohamed Morsi late Monday evening with a message not unlike the one he delivered to his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, two and
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July 2, 2013 — Steven Hayward
No sooner do I post my thoughts and brief photo spread on the crisis in Egypt, than I find that the incomparable [insert additional obligatory but justly deserved superlatives here] Michael Ramirez nails the Egypt situation in cartoon form (the ash tray is an especially delicious detail):
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July 2, 2013 — Steven Hayward
While Obama is off doing who knows what in Africa right now, the Middle East seems poised on a knife edge. Between civil war in Syria, a prospective coup in Egypt that could lead to civil war, and serious unrest in Turkey (that could lead to civil war), we could wake up in three or six months to find the region in complete chaos or worse–maybe American hostages will complete
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July 1, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
I’ve been expecting the Egyptian military to demand that President Morsi reach some sort of accommodation with the anti-government protest movement. I wasn’t confident, though, this would happen right away. But today comes word that the military has issued an ultimatum to the government and, as I read its statement, to the opposition: resolve the current crisis that has generated massive protests or the military will announce its own solution.
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June 30, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
If the protests throughout Egypt today were, in fact, a test of numbers, then the test didn’t go well for President Morsi. According to the Washington Post: [A]s each side sought to claim the nation’s majority, and thus the legitimacy, on Sunday, it was apparent that the president’s supporters were vastly outnumbered. And that, political analysts said, left a resolution to Egypt’s crisis hanging in uncertainty. In Cairo, again according
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June 30, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Massive protests and counter-protests are under way in Egypt. It is hard to be optimistic about events in that part of the world, but who knows? The course Egypt is on is unsustainable, as its economy is close to utter collapse. I don’t see how the current Muslim Brotherhood regime can stave off that collapse, so change of some sort seems inevitable. Perhaps it will be for the better. Meanwhile,
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June 29, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The battle between Sunni and Shiite will, I think, be the dominant theme in the Middle East for some time. But that doesn’t mean that the struggle between secularist and Islamist will have no sway in any portion of the region. To the contrary, we see such a struggle shaping up in Egypt now. The consequences have already been deadly and may well become more so on Sunday, when massive
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April 6, 2013 — Scott Johnson
We’ve been following the Egyptian government’s harassment of Bassem Youssef, the Arab world’s most popular television comedian, “for the supposedly criminal use of satire in jokes about President Mohamed Morsi and his Islamist political party,” as Robert Mackey and Kareem Fahim put it in this New York Times post. We posted the video of Jon Stewart’s critique of the Morsi government here. In an update Mackey and Fahim posted a
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April 5, 2013 — Scott Johnson
At the New York Times blog The Lede, Robert Mackey and Kareem Fahim report: The American comedian Jon Stewart’s criticism of the Egyptian government briefly escalated into a diplomatic incident on Tuesday, as the United States Embassy in Cairo shared a link to a “Daily Show” segment on Twitter, causing the office of Egypt’s president to react with anger. Mr. Stewart devoted the first 11 minutes of his program on
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April 1, 2013 — Scott Johnson
David Rieff is a principled man of the left whom I greatly respect. He last wrote in to comment on “R2P or not R2P.” Today he writes to comment on “Contain this” and Egypt’s food crisis: I actually share your skepticism about the Arab Spring, but having spent the last five years writing a book about the crisis of the global food system, I’d caution you that linking the food
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March 31, 2013 — Scott Johnson
I would like to think that the internal contradictions of Islamism will bring down regimes such as that of Egypt’s Mohammed Morsi. Today the New York Times reports on Egypt’s shortages of food and fuel, a story that David Goldman has cornered for quite a while. If only we were to impose appropriate conditions in return for the financial aid that we provide — and if only we sought to
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March 10, 2013 — Scott Johnson
Were it not for a a single post at the Weekly Standard, Michelle Obama and John Kerry would have presented the International Women of Courage Award to Samira Ibrahim on Friday afternoon. This despite the fact that Ibrahim is a raging anti-Semite and celebrant of 9/11, including the Islamist observation of the anniversary at the American embassy in Cairo this past September. In Washington for the ceremony, Ibrahim first pleaded
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March 8, 2013 — Scott Johnson
This afternoon Michelle Obama and John Kerry were scheduled to present the International Women of Courage Award to Samira Ibrahim and nine other women who have shown leadership in advocating for women’s rights around the world. Ibrahim was included in recognition of her battle against the Egyptian army’s infamous “virginity tests.” Ibrahim was in Washington for the award ceremony today. Writing at the Weekly Standard on Wednesday, Samuel Tadros performed
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March 5, 2013 — Scott Johnson
The editors of Investors Business Daily pose a good question: What are we to make of the U.S. suddenly finding $250 million to spare for Egypt during a supposedly devastating sequester? Has this administration miraculously parted a sea of red ink? The editorial concludes: The U.S. is giving $250 million to an Egyptian president who calls Jews “blood-suckers” who are “descendants of apes and pigs”; Morsi unequivocally supports the Iranian-backed
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February 9, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
According to Khaled Abu Toameh at the Gatestone Institute website, there are reports that Hamas dispatched as many as 7,000 militiamen from Gaza to protect the regime of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi who faces a popular uprising. The reports quoted unidentified Egyptian security officials as saying that the Hamas militiamen had been spotted in the Egyptian border town of Rafah before they headed toward Cairo to shore up the Muslim
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February 6, 2013 — Scott Johnson
Here I’ve foolishly wondered why we’re giving Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood regime — you know, the one in which the President from the Brotherhood forced out the country’s top two military chiefs in order to consolidate his power over the armed forces — a slew of F-16s. If I’d only waited a few days, all would have become clear. At a ceremony marking the delivery of the first four F-16s to
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January 30, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The chief of Egypt’s military, Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, warned of the possible “collapse of the state” following a fourth night of street fighting in Cairo and other major cities. In that event, the military might very well intervene in an effort to restore stability. Unfortunately, as we pointed out in August of last year, Sissi’s sympathies lie with the Muslim Brotherhood. Indeed, this report by the Washington Post, though it
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