Israel Matzav

Egypt as you won't see it in the mainstream media

The mainstream media won't tell you this, but two of the biggest targets of the massive protests in Egypt are Barack Hussein Obama and his ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson.

Doug Ross publishes 15 pictures of the Egyptian protests that you won't see in the legacy media. One of them is above and another is below. You can see the rest here.

On Monday evening, the Egyptian military gave the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsy 48 hours to meet the protesters' demands. Otherwise, the military will move in.

As a main party in the considerations of the future and based on their patriotic and historic responsibilities to protect security and stability, the Armed Forces state the following:

— The Armed Forces will not be a party in the circles of politics or governance and are not willing to step out of the role defined for them by the basic ideals of democracy based on the will of the people.

— The national security of the state is exposed to extreme danger by the developments the nation is witnessing, and this places a responsibility on us, each according to his position, to act as is proper to avert these dangers. The armed forces sensed early on the dangers of the current situation and the demands the great people have at this time. Therefore, it previously set a deadline of a week for all political forces in the country to come to a consensus and get out of this crisis. However, the week has passed without any sign of an initiative. This is what led to the people coming out with determination and resolve, in their full freedom, in this glorious way, which inspired surprise, respect and attention at the domestic, regional and international levels.

— Wasting more time will only bring more division and conflict, which we have warned about and continue to warn about. The noble people have suffered and have found no one to treat them with kindness or sympathize with them. That puts a moral and psychological burden on the armed forces, which find it obligatory that everyone drop everything and embrace these proud people, which have shown they are ready to do the impossible if only they feels there is loyalty and dedication to them.

— The Armed Forces repeat their call for the people’s demands to be met and give everyone 48 hours as a last chance to shoulder the burden of the historic moment that is happening in the nation, which will not forgive or tolerate any party that is lax in shouldering its responsibility.

— The Armed Forces put everyone on notice that if the demands of the people are not realized in the given time period, it will be obliged by its patriotic and historic responsibilities and by its respect for the demands of the great Egyptian people to announce a road map for the future and the steps for overseeing its implementation, with participation of all patriotic and sincere parties and movements — including the youth, who set off the glorious revolution and continue to do so — without excluding anyone.

The threat by the military to intervene seems likely to happen. 

The military’s statement puts enormous pressure on Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood. So far, the president has vowed he will remain in his position, but the opposition and crowds in the street — who numbered in the millions nationwide on Sunday — have made clear they will accept nothing less than his departure and a transition to early presidential elections.

That makes action by the generals when the deadline runs out nearly inevitable, since a deal seems unlikely. The statement did not define the “people’s demands” that must be met. But it strongly suggested that Sunday’s gigantic rallies expressed the desire of Egyptians, raising the likelihood it would insist on Morsi’s departure.

An army move against Morsi, however, risks a backlash from his Islamist supporters, who include hard-line former militants.

Morsi met Monday with el-Sissi and Prime Minister Hesham Kandil, according to the president’s Facebook page, without giving further details.

Already, the military’s presence in Cairo has increased at sensitive spots the past two days. Troops on Monday manned checkpoints on roads leading to a pro-Morsi rally of Islamists near his palace. They checked cars for weapons, after repeated reports some Islamists were arming themselves.

Morsi’s backers have been infuriated by what they call an opposition move to forcibly overthrow Egypt’s first president chosen in a democratic election. Some see the campaign as aimed at defeating the “Islamist project.”

In the evening, the pro-president rally outside the Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque not far from the Ittihadiya palace also swelled, though it was eclipsed by the opposition rallies. Its participants blew whistles and waved banners with Morsi’s picture on it.

“The military has sacrificed legitimacy. There will be a civil war,” Manal Shouib, a 47-year-old physiotherapist at the pro-president rally outside the Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque not far from Ittihadiya.

President Obama said Monday that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has more work to do to create a “responsive and truly representative” government, sidestepping the question of whether Morsi should step down amid growing demands from protesters to do so.

Obama, who arrived in Tanzania on Monday, said his administration has encouraged the Morsi government to “reach out to the opposition and work through these issues in a political process.”

But Obama told reporters, “It’s not the U.S. job to determine what that process is. But what we have said is, ‘Go through processes that are legitimate and observe rule of law.’”

Now that's a double standard when you consider than in 2011, it took about two weeks for Obama to call on Hosni Mubarak to resign. But that's because Obama considers his good friend Morsy's election to be 'legitimate,' while Mubarak was not. Morsy isn't the first (or last) fascist to win an election, and the fact that he won an election doesn't make his behavior legitimate....

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Egyptian democracy, Hosni Mubarak, Mohammed Morsy

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:56 AM