The newly assertive Egyptian military and the civilian transitional government in Egypt are helping make President Obama’s life difficult. Likely it was Egypt that blocked the Arab League from calling for intervention against the Syrian regime despite its condemnation of Damascus for using chemical weapons.
Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmy rejected a Western strike on Syria. He said that no country could attack another save in self-defense or in the case of a UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force. The military-dominated government in Cairo despises political Islam and therefore doesn’t like the rebel forces. It now tilts toward the Arab Nationalist line of the Syrian Baath.
Leftist Egyptian politician Hamdeen Sabahi called on all Arabs to unite against a Western attack on Syria. He warned that if Syria were hit, Egypt would be next. This is paranoid stuff; the US has no intention of bombing Egypt!
Some Egyptian officials have criticized the US for not having a clear strategy for ‘the day after’.
Hosni Mubarak and Muhammad Morsi might have cooperated with the US on a strike. Those days are long past.
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