Egypt

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 […]

Egypt

Must US Aid to Egypt be Cut Off? (Wang & Meyer)

Juan Cole

Marian Wang and Theodoric Meyer write at ProPublica Questions about the United States’ aid to Egypt have intensified in the wake of last month’s military coup. More than 1,000 Egyptians have been killed in the last week, most apparently supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. A few members of Congress have called for cutting off […]

Egypt

Egypt’s Revenge of the Leftovers: Mubarak to be released, Muslim Brotherhood leader Badie Arrested

Juan Cole

Too much could easily be made of the pending release from prison of former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, who is still facing charges of complicity in killing some 900 young protesters during the Jan. 25, 2011, uprising. The courts couldn’t find evidence tying him to corruption (which either means that Mubarak’s accountants hid their trail […]

Afghanistan

Has Military Suppression of Political Islam ever Worked?

Juan Cole

The Egyptian military’s obvious determination to crush the Muslim Brotherhood involves serious human rights violations, apparent in the appalling scenes of the siege of members in a mosque on Saturday. A separate question, which any political pragmatist would ask, is, can it work? If we look at long term attempts to limit political expressions of […]

Egypt

It’s not about Democracy: Top Ten Reasons Washington is Reluctant to cut off Egypt Aid

Juan Cole

another 80 people died in violence in Egypt on Friday, as Muslim Brotherhood crowds protested the military crackdown on their sit-ins that cost hundreds of lives this week. Some of the violence resulted fro police heavy-handedness, some from an armed Brotherhood attack on a police station. The continued unrest upped the pressure on the Obama […]

Egypt

Egypt’s Waco

Juan Cole

Within Egypt, and in many other Arab countries, the shocking killings of Black Wednesday have elicited horror in many quarters, but have actually been supported in many others. I am in the horrified camp, and ask myself how in the world people can be indifferent to or even justified what the Egyptian military did. It […]

Egypt

Cairo Burning (Aerial Video)

Juan Cole

Aerial video of Cairo in the wake of the military atrocity against the Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins shows Cairo aflame. ITN compares it to the 1973 war, but it reminds me of 1952, when angry crowds attacked British-linked establishments in events that helped provoke the Young Officers’ coup.

Egypt

Egypt’s Transition Has Failed: New Age of Military Dictatorship in Wake of Massacre

Juan Cole

The horrible bloodshed in Egypt on Wednesday marked a turning point in the country’s modern history, locking it in to years of authoritarian paternalism and possibly violent faction fighting. The country is ruled by an intolerant junta with no respect for human life. Neither the Brotherhood nor the military made the kind of bargain and […]

Egypt

Egyptian Police Clear Brotherhood Sit-Ins, at cost of Scores of deaths, injuries

Juan Cole

On Wednesday morning, the State Security police in Egypt used earth movers to tear down the barricades around the huge sit-ins at al-Nahda Square in Giza and Rabia al-`Adawiyya square in Cairo. They left one street open at each location and demanded the crowds disperse, saying that no one would be pursued who voluntarily left. […]