By Sarah
Stern
The newly
appointed head of the Egyptian military, General Abdel Fattah al Sissi, is a
known Muslim Brother sympathizer.
I woke up to the
news on Sunday, that the recently elected President of Egypt, Mohammad Morsi,
had just fired General Tantawi, and his military Chief of Staff, Sami Annan,
along with commanders of the air force, navy and an anti-aircraft unit. He did
so while dissolving Article 25 of the Egyptian Constitution that affords the
Egyptian military some degree of independence and grants them some legislative
powers, and therefore made the entire military a part of his Muslim Brotherhood
government. In their stead, Morsi has promoted generals and chiefs of staff who
were all part of Muslim Brotherhood
sleeper cells.
For the last year
and a half, or ever since the events began in Tahrir Square, I, and my small
organization, have been alone on Capitol Hill, talking about the radical
Islamist wind blowing throughout the Middle East, and arguing that we should
terminate, or at the very least suspend, or even condition, military aid to
Egypt, until we see what sort of government will take shape.
Unfortunately,
other, much more powerful, organizations in pro-Israel community have been on
Capitol Hill lobbying for the exact opposite. They have put their considerable
strength and prestige behind a request for continuous military aid for Egypt,
arguing that the military is the most democratic of all institutions, and that
the dire state of the Egyptian economy and their need for an influx of American
dollars will keep the military in power, which will serve as an important check
on the Muslim Brotherhood government. [more...]
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