We should’ve known better. Minutes after leaving Israeli airspace, the Secretary of State was notified of two contradictions. One, that Morsi would consolidate his power as dictator; two, he would continue to model himself as a useful idiot to the American’s need for self-delusion. Anyone with a modicum of knowledge of the Near East would have anticipated this. Not team Obama.
How did we get here?
A look at the true political convictions of Morsi reveals a Lenin in pious garb. Let’s detail it for a closer look.
Morsi didn’t like the easy convictions that post Mubarak policy hacks received, he also feared that the current (Islamist dominated) Constituent Assembly would be dissolved by these same judges who are responsible for writing a new Constitution. Morsi’s decision was to issue a decree arrogating to himself alone the ability to legally supercede judicial rulings, with the promise to revoke such authority after the new Constitution, leaving Egyptian political transition completed.
But what kind of regime is rising along the Nile?
We must admit it; westerners don’t yet comprehend the power of the Muslim Brotherhood. They were last to Tahir Square; but they cleaned up politically. They alone reaped the political spoils. They promised not to contest the presidential election; having done so, they paid no political price. After electing a Muslim Brotherhood President, Morsi and his pious minions said that they would respect the authority and place of Egyptian military; he sacked the two top military masters that dominated the final vestiges of secular authority, replacing them with loyal cronies. Finally, the Muslim Brotherhood promised to abide by international protocols protecting foreign embassies. That too failed absent a furious phone call from the American President. We shouldn’t shy away from acknowledging both IMF loans totaling billions as well as traditional US foreign aid that we dispense to Egypt making her pliable to American interests. All of this should have been revoked by team Obama, it wasn’t .
What are we left with, other than another Islamic Nation State traditionally aligned with American interests, going native and militant?
A danger that is growing with its appetite.
William Holland
William Holland 