General Kyrylo Budanov told British broadcaster Sky News that if Russia lost the war in Ukraine, Putin would be removed and his country would collapse.
"It will eventually lead to the change of leadership of the Russian Federation," Budanov told the outlet, "this process has already been launched."
Read more at:
Russian Coup Against Putin Already Underway, Ukraine General Says
Showing posts with label Military Coup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military Coup. Show all posts
1/4/21
USA: Is a Divided, Confused US the Perfect Scenario for Donald Trump's Coup d'Etat?
President Donald Trump’s stealthy, creeping ‘coup attempt’ remains a major political issue as we enter the final stretch of his presidency. He has successfully carried out his threat to contest by any means available to him the election defeat of November 2020, including legal action, political pressure, encouragement of mass protest by the extreme Right, not to mention threats of violence against election officials, including Republicans.
Trump is now calling for the US Senate and House to challenge the Electoral College vote on January 6, and his supporters to ‘march on Washington DC’, which could descend into violence. In addition, the administration is ramping up baseless fears of ‘retaliatory’ attacks by Iranian forces to mark the January 3 anniversary of the drone killing of General Suleimani, and reinforcing US naval, air and military forces in the Gulf.
Senior uniformed military worry that Trump will engineer a foreign military adventure as we approach the January 3 anniversary of US drone killing of Iran General Suleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Trump has also stated a desire to attack Iran for rocket attacks on the US embassy in Baghdad. Either could be a basis for mobilising the US military, declaring a national emergency and refusing to leave office: this has been discussed in such overt terms in a series of respected media including the Washington Post, Newsweek, The Hill and CNN. Trump’s coup attempt has also been called out in such terms by leading scholars, including the historian of authoritarianism, Professor Timothy Snyder at Yale University.
Read more at: Is a Divided, Confused US the Perfect Scenario for Donald Trump's Coup d'Etat?
Trump is now calling for the US Senate and House to challenge the Electoral College vote on January 6, and his supporters to ‘march on Washington DC’, which could descend into violence. In addition, the administration is ramping up baseless fears of ‘retaliatory’ attacks by Iranian forces to mark the January 3 anniversary of the drone killing of General Suleimani, and reinforcing US naval, air and military forces in the Gulf.
Senior uniformed military worry that Trump will engineer a foreign military adventure as we approach the January 3 anniversary of US drone killing of Iran General Suleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Trump has also stated a desire to attack Iran for rocket attacks on the US embassy in Baghdad. Either could be a basis for mobilising the US military, declaring a national emergency and refusing to leave office: this has been discussed in such overt terms in a series of respected media including the Washington Post, Newsweek, The Hill and CNN. Trump’s coup attempt has also been called out in such terms by leading scholars, including the historian of authoritarianism, Professor Timothy Snyder at Yale University.
Read more at: Is a Divided, Confused US the Perfect Scenario for Donald Trump's Coup d'Etat?
2/15/17
USA: Former Obama Pentagon official Osa Brook, says anti-Trump military coup possible-by Carlo Muñoz
A former Defense Department official under the Obama administration
has raised the specter of a military coup to remove President Donald Trump from power.
In an editorial penned for Foreign Policy, senior Pentagon policy official Rosa Brooks publicly suggested a military insurrection against the Trump administration may be the only option to oust one of the most divisive presidents in American history.
“Donald Trump’s first week as president has made it all too clear: Yes, he is as crazy as everyone feared,” Ms. Brooks wrote. “[One] possibility is one that until recently I would have said was unthinkable in the United States of America: a military coup, or at least a refusal by military leaders to obey certain orders.”
For the first time in her career in public service, including three years as senior counselor to the Pentagon’s policy chief from 2009 to 2011, “I can imagine plausible scenarios in which senior military officials might simply tell the president: ‘No, sir. We’re not doing that.’”
Ms. Brooks‘ editorial comes as a recent poll by Public Policy Polling group found that 40 percent of registered voters support Mr. Trump’s impeachment.
In addition, 52 percent of voters polled said they would rather have President Obama in the Oval Office, opposed to the 43 percent who support the Trump presidency.
Read more: Rosa Brooks, Obama Pentagon official, says anti-Trump military coup possible - Washington Times
In an editorial penned for Foreign Policy, senior Pentagon policy official Rosa Brooks publicly suggested a military insurrection against the Trump administration may be the only option to oust one of the most divisive presidents in American history.
“Donald Trump’s first week as president has made it all too clear: Yes, he is as crazy as everyone feared,” Ms. Brooks wrote. “[One] possibility is one that until recently I would have said was unthinkable in the United States of America: a military coup, or at least a refusal by military leaders to obey certain orders.”
For the first time in her career in public service, including three years as senior counselor to the Pentagon’s policy chief from 2009 to 2011, “I can imagine plausible scenarios in which senior military officials might simply tell the president: ‘No, sir. We’re not doing that.’”
Ms. Brooks‘ editorial comes as a recent poll by Public Policy Polling group found that 40 percent of registered voters support Mr. Trump’s impeachment.
In addition, 52 percent of voters polled said they would rather have President Obama in the Oval Office, opposed to the 43 percent who support the Trump presidency.
Read more: Rosa Brooks, Obama Pentagon official, says anti-Trump military coup possible - Washington Times
7/16/16
Turkey coup: Chaos continues in Turkey Live updates - by Lauren Said-Moorhouse
After a night of explosions, gunfire and tanks rolling along the streets, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Turkey Saturday that an attempted military coup was over and the government was in charge.
At least 90 people died and 1,000 people were injured and hundreds arrested across the country.
However, the sounds of fighting were still being reported in Ankara and Istanbul after the chaotic attempt by members of the military to wrest control from Erdogan.
At least 90 people died and 1,000 people were injured and hundreds arrested across the country.
Read more: Turkey coup: Live updates - CNN.com
7/15/16
9/26/13
Greece's democracy in danger, warns Demos, as Greek reservists call for coup - by Helena Smith
No country has displayed more of a "backslide in democracy" than Greece, the British thinktank Demos has said in a study highlighting the crisis-plagued country's slide into economic, social and political disarray.
Released on the same day that judicial authorities ordered an investigation into a blog posting by an elite reservist group linked to Greece's armed forces calling for a coup d'etat, the study singled out Greece and Hungary for being "the most significant democratic backsliders" in the EU.
"Researchers found Greece overwhelmed by high unemployment, social unrest, endemic corruption and a severe disillusionment with the political establishment," it said. The report, commissioned by the European parliament, noted that Greece was the most corrupt state in the 28-nation bloc and voiced fears over the rise of far-right extremism in the country.
The report was released as the fragile two-party coalition of the prime minister, Antonis Samaras, admitted it was worried by a call for a military coup posted overnight on Wednesday on the website of the Special Forces Reserve Union. "It must worry us," said a government spokesman, Simos Kedikoglou. "The overwhelming majority in the armed forces are devoted to our democracy," he said. "The few who are not will face the consequences."
With tension running high after a crackdown on the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, a supreme court public prosecutor demanded an immediate inquiry into who may have written the post, which called for an interim government under "the guarantee of the armed forces".
Note EU-Digest: A military coup has never created long term economic well being or stability for any nation in the world and would be the "kiss of death" for Greece. Even the suggestion of it is ridiculous.
Read more: Greece's democracy in danger, warns Demos, as Greek reservists call for coup | World news | The Guardian
Released on the same day that judicial authorities ordered an investigation into a blog posting by an elite reservist group linked to Greece's armed forces calling for a coup d'etat, the study singled out Greece and Hungary for being "the most significant democratic backsliders" in the EU.
"Researchers found Greece overwhelmed by high unemployment, social unrest, endemic corruption and a severe disillusionment with the political establishment," it said. The report, commissioned by the European parliament, noted that Greece was the most corrupt state in the 28-nation bloc and voiced fears over the rise of far-right extremism in the country.
The report was released as the fragile two-party coalition of the prime minister, Antonis Samaras, admitted it was worried by a call for a military coup posted overnight on Wednesday on the website of the Special Forces Reserve Union. "It must worry us," said a government spokesman, Simos Kedikoglou. "The overwhelming majority in the armed forces are devoted to our democracy," he said. "The few who are not will face the consequences."
With tension running high after a crackdown on the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, a supreme court public prosecutor demanded an immediate inquiry into who may have written the post, which called for an interim government under "the guarantee of the armed forces".
Note EU-Digest: A military coup has never created long term economic well being or stability for any nation in the world and would be the "kiss of death" for Greece. Even the suggestion of it is ridiculous.
Read more: Greece's democracy in danger, warns Demos, as Greek reservists call for coup | World news | The Guardian
8/23/13
Middle East: Egypt’s anti-coup alliance plans protests
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and other anti-coup groups have called for mass demonstrations against the military-backed interim government, as crackdown against Brotherhoood leaders continue.
Authorities detained Ahmed Aref, a spokesman for the group, and Hassan al-Brins, a member of parliament representing the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday, reported Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith in Cairo.
Supporters of the anti-coup alliance have dubbed the latest protest a "Friday of martyrs", with 28 mosques in the Cairo area named as points of departure for the demonstrations.
In recent days, Brotherhood protests that once attracted tens of thousands of people at locations across the country have ebbed, suggesting the group's famed organisational strength may have been damaged by the arrest of its leaders.
They have also been subject to a violent crackdown on the part of authorities, with at least 900 people reported killed in the last eight days, as security forces have moved to end anti-coup demonstration.
Read more: Egypt’s anti-coup alliance plans protests - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Authorities detained Ahmed Aref, a spokesman for the group, and Hassan al-Brins, a member of parliament representing the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday, reported Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith in Cairo.
Supporters of the anti-coup alliance have dubbed the latest protest a "Friday of martyrs", with 28 mosques in the Cairo area named as points of departure for the demonstrations.
In recent days, Brotherhood protests that once attracted tens of thousands of people at locations across the country have ebbed, suggesting the group's famed organisational strength may have been damaged by the arrest of its leaders.
They have also been subject to a violent crackdown on the part of authorities, with at least 900 people reported killed in the last eight days, as security forces have moved to end anti-coup demonstration.
Read more: Egypt’s anti-coup alliance plans protests - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
8/22/13
Turkey's Erdogan: A Smart Man With Jews on the Brain - by Jeffrey Goldberg
 |
| Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan |
Optimists have argued, these past few years, that Erdogan's anger at Israel was motivated by a genuine sense of grievance over the notorious 2010 flotilla incident. The flotilla, you'll recall, was a project of pro-Hamas Turkish activists that was meant to break what they termed an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel's attempt to stop the flotilla ended in the deaths of eight Turks and one Turkish-American.
The Turks demanded, among other things, that Israel apologize for its handling of the affair. Israel resisted for three years, saying that its soldiers were attacked by the Turkish activists when they boarded the ship, and that Israel had the legal right to stop the flotilla from approaching its waters. Nevertheless, the Israeli response was horribly botched, and this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, coaxed and cajoled by President Barack Obama, picked up the phone (with Obama sitting right there with him) and apologized to Erdogan for the unnecessary deaths. This apology was supposed to usher in a newer, quieter era in Turkish-Israeli relations.
Except that Erdogan has Jews on the brain, and once you get Jews on the brain it's hard to get them off. So the other day, in talking about the strife in Egypt, he said: "What is said about Egypt? That democracy is not the ballot box. Who is behind this? Israel is. We have the evidence in our hands."
The evidence for the assertion that Israel was behind the violent suppression of the Muslim Brotherhood? Erdogan himself offered none, but an aide later said that the prime minister was referring to an Internet video Erdogan saw in which the current Israeli justice minister, Tzipi Livni, and the famous French-Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, were speaking at a news conference in 2011. In the video, BHL, as he is known, expressed opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood's ruling Egypt.
Although not very good at making friends, either in Europe or in the Middle East, Erdogan is known as a very smart man. Yet anti-Semitism is making him stupid. As Walter Russell Mead of the American Interest magazine says, those who are burdened with anti-Semitism are unable to discern cause and effect relations in complex social settings. If I were an investor in Turkey, I'd keep this mind.
Read more: Bloomberg
8/21/13
Egyptian court orders Mubarak released from prison - by Abigail Hauslohner
 |
| "And the Egyptian Military Saga Continues" |
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak could leave prison as early as Wednesday night, government officials and legal experts said, after a Cairo court ordered the release of the deposed autocrat who ruled Egypt for three decades.
 |
| Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi |
The Egyptian prosecutor’s office said Mubarak would remain on the country’s no-fly list and that his assets would remain frozen.
Mubarak’s release was ordered by an Egyptian court Wednesday after the 85-year-old former air force commander agreed to return or pay the value of gifts he received from state news organizations while in office, a spokesman for Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said.
It was the last of three cases brought against Mubarak since he was ousted from power in the Arab Spring uprising. Judicial authorities accepted Mubarak’s appeals for a retrial on earlier charges of corruption and killing protesters during the uprising. Other charges related to the renovation of the presidential palace were dismissed earlier for lack of evidence.
“According to our penal code, you cannot detain a person for more than two years, without indicting him,” said Badr Abdellaty, a spokesman for Egypt’s Foreign Ministry.
“So he can stay at home,” Abdellaty said, and go from there to court for his retrials
Note EU-Digest: And the Egyptian Military Saga Continues.....
Read more: Egyptian court orders Mubarak released from prison - The Washington Post
8/20/13
Egypt: U.S. Aid 'Secretly' Cut but Saudi Arabia Group to fill gap; Brotherhood Leader Arrested
"The Obama administration has decided to temporarily suspend the disbursement of most direct military aid, the delivery of weapons to the Egyptian military, and some forms of economic aid to the Egyptian government while it conducts a broad review of the relationship," . It's getting the news that such aid has been "secretly" cut from "the office of Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the head of the Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee."
"[Senator Leahy's] understanding is that aid to the Egyptian military has been halted, as required by law," David Carle, a spokesman for Leahy, tells The Daily Beast.
The law he's referring to requires that aid be suspended to nations where a military "coup" has supplanted a democratically elected government. While the Obama administration has not called the a coup, "two administration officials told The Daily Beast that administration lawyers decided it was best to observe the law restricting military aid on a temporary basis, as if there had been a coup designation."
Any suspension of U.S. aid may have little effect on Egypt. , while "Europeans and the United States considered cutting cash aid to Egypt, Saudi Arabia said Monday that it and its allies would make up any reduction — effectively neutralizing the West's main leverage over Cairo."
Read more: Egypt: U.S. Aid 'Secretly' Cut; Brotherhood Leader Arrested : The Two-Way : NPR
"[Senator Leahy's] understanding is that aid to the Egyptian military has been halted, as required by law," David Carle, a spokesman for Leahy, tells The Daily Beast.
The law he's referring to requires that aid be suspended to nations where a military "coup" has supplanted a democratically elected government. While the Obama administration has not called the a coup, "two administration officials told The Daily Beast that administration lawyers decided it was best to observe the law restricting military aid on a temporary basis, as if there had been a coup designation."
Any suspension of U.S. aid may have little effect on Egypt. , while "Europeans and the United States considered cutting cash aid to Egypt, Saudi Arabia said Monday that it and its allies would make up any reduction — effectively neutralizing the West's main leverage over Cairo."
Read more: Egypt: U.S. Aid 'Secretly' Cut; Brotherhood Leader Arrested : The Two-Way : NPR
8/17/13
Egypt: disaster on Europe's doorstep - editorial
Egypt had less than two days to recover from the shock of the worst bloodshed in its modern history – at least 640 dead and 4,000 injured – when the whole deadly cycle started again on Friday: mass arrests during the night, mass demonstrations on a nationwide scale, heavy gunfire ringing out in the heart of Cairo and the first reports of scores of deaths. The abyss facing Egypt under the current military government is huge.
If the government carries out its ambition to dismantle the Muslim Brotherhood and destroy it as a political force, it will be doing something more ambitious than the dictator Hosni Mubarak attempted. But in the process it may also shatter Egypt. The sheer size of the mass demonstrations on Friday are a sign that the military regime cannot hold the country on their own, and the anti-coup forces' ability to mount such sustained defiance – and do so repeatedly, in the face of live fire – is an indication of what Egypt's new military rulers are up against.
The crackdown has nevertheless been fuelled by the support from a significant section of the population, some of whom set up roadblocks in Cairo to stop marchers from entering the centre of the city. But claims from the supporters of the military government to be the authentic, and exclusive, voice of the Egyptian people should be treated sceptically. Before the polarisation of Egyptian society goes deeper, it is worth restating a few basic hopes.
The first is that the shock generated by the deaths of fellow Egyptians will eventually bring people together. It is one thing to oppose an Islamic movement and fight – at the polls – the cause of a pluralistic, multifaith, democratic Egypt. It is quite another to applaud their deaths and justify their massacre.
So far only the Salafist al-Nour party, the liberal April 6 group and the far left revolutionary socialists have spoken against the killings. Most other factions call the Brotherhood a terrorist threat and support the government action. But the cracks are growing. Khaled Dawoud, the spokesman of the National Salvation Front, who supported the coup, resigned on Friday, tweeting that he could not continue with political parties who refused to condemn the shootings. If the ranks of the demonstrators are being swollen by prominent liberals such as the youth leader Abdul Rahman Fares and the secular poet Abdul Rahman Yousef, then a split between secular revolutionaries and the Brotherhood that goes right the way back to the start of the revolution in 2011 could be in the process of being repaired.
This could be a way forward. The forces that combined to oust one military dictatorship will have to find a way of replacing a second and even more brutal one.
The second hope is that the anti-coup protest remains focused on the coup. This is not certain at present. At least 12 Coptic churches have been torched and over 20 attacked. The Brotherhood has condemned the attacks, saying that the fact that the Coptic church applauded the coup is no justification for sectarian attacks on Christian worshippers. They should go further and provide physical protection for them, especially if the police stand by and do nothing. Sectarianism is as much an enemy of an anti-coup movement as retaliatory violence is.
The international community is starting to grasp the dimensions of what is unfolding. Europe is on Egypt's doorstep and if it descends into civil conflict, as it still might, the displaced will travel north across the sea if they can. The EU foreign policy representative Baroness Ashton, who met with President Mohamed Morsi and called for utmost restraint, should continue with her mission.
Diplomatic pressure from Europe is all the more important as Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah declared his support for what he termed Egypt's "fight against terrorism". There are no easy options here, but only one condition will guarantee Egypt's stability – the return to full democratic legitimacy.
If the government carries out its ambition to dismantle the Muslim Brotherhood and destroy it as a political force, it will be doing something more ambitious than the dictator Hosni Mubarak attempted. But in the process it may also shatter Egypt. The sheer size of the mass demonstrations on Friday are a sign that the military regime cannot hold the country on their own, and the anti-coup forces' ability to mount such sustained defiance – and do so repeatedly, in the face of live fire – is an indication of what Egypt's new military rulers are up against.
The crackdown has nevertheless been fuelled by the support from a significant section of the population, some of whom set up roadblocks in Cairo to stop marchers from entering the centre of the city. But claims from the supporters of the military government to be the authentic, and exclusive, voice of the Egyptian people should be treated sceptically. Before the polarisation of Egyptian society goes deeper, it is worth restating a few basic hopes.
The first is that the shock generated by the deaths of fellow Egyptians will eventually bring people together. It is one thing to oppose an Islamic movement and fight – at the polls – the cause of a pluralistic, multifaith, democratic Egypt. It is quite another to applaud their deaths and justify their massacre.
So far only the Salafist al-Nour party, the liberal April 6 group and the far left revolutionary socialists have spoken against the killings. Most other factions call the Brotherhood a terrorist threat and support the government action. But the cracks are growing. Khaled Dawoud, the spokesman of the National Salvation Front, who supported the coup, resigned on Friday, tweeting that he could not continue with political parties who refused to condemn the shootings. If the ranks of the demonstrators are being swollen by prominent liberals such as the youth leader Abdul Rahman Fares and the secular poet Abdul Rahman Yousef, then a split between secular revolutionaries and the Brotherhood that goes right the way back to the start of the revolution in 2011 could be in the process of being repaired.
This could be a way forward. The forces that combined to oust one military dictatorship will have to find a way of replacing a second and even more brutal one.
The second hope is that the anti-coup protest remains focused on the coup. This is not certain at present. At least 12 Coptic churches have been torched and over 20 attacked. The Brotherhood has condemned the attacks, saying that the fact that the Coptic church applauded the coup is no justification for sectarian attacks on Christian worshippers. They should go further and provide physical protection for them, especially if the police stand by and do nothing. Sectarianism is as much an enemy of an anti-coup movement as retaliatory violence is.
The international community is starting to grasp the dimensions of what is unfolding. Europe is on Egypt's doorstep and if it descends into civil conflict, as it still might, the displaced will travel north across the sea if they can. The EU foreign policy representative Baroness Ashton, who met with President Mohamed Morsi and called for utmost restraint, should continue with her mission.
Diplomatic pressure from Europe is all the more important as Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah declared his support for what he termed Egypt's "fight against terrorism". There are no easy options here, but only one condition will guarantee Egypt's stability – the return to full democratic legitimacy.
Read m ore: Egypt: disaster on Europe's doorstep | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian
8/15/13
EU, Qatar, Iran and Turkey condemn latest massacre of Egypt protesters
Qatar has joined regional giants Turkey and Iran in condemning the Egyptian junta's massacre today against protesters in Cairo, while the European Union said the development was "extremely worrying".
EU said reports that protesters had been killed in a security crackdown were "extremely worrying" and called for restraint from Egyptian authorities.
At least 94 people have been killed on Wednesday when they cleared a camp of Cairo protesters who were demanding the reinstatement of deposed President Mohamed Morsi, according to Al Jazeera's correspondent on the ground.
At least six members of the Egyptian security forces were shot dead, the state news agency reported.
"The reports of deaths and injuries are extremely worrying," Michael Mann, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.
"We reiterate that violence won't lead to any solution and we urge the Egyptian authorities to proceed with utmost restraint."
Turkey's president Abdullah Gul branded the crackdown as "unacceptable".
Read more: EU, Qatar, Iran and Turkey condemn latest massacre of Egypt protesters
EU said reports that protesters had been killed in a security crackdown were "extremely worrying" and called for restraint from Egyptian authorities.
At least 94 people have been killed on Wednesday when they cleared a camp of Cairo protesters who were demanding the reinstatement of deposed President Mohamed Morsi, according to Al Jazeera's correspondent on the ground.
At least six members of the Egyptian security forces were shot dead, the state news agency reported.
"The reports of deaths and injuries are extremely worrying," Michael Mann, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.
"We reiterate that violence won't lead to any solution and we urge the Egyptian authorities to proceed with utmost restraint."
Turkey's president Abdullah Gul branded the crackdown as "unacceptable".
Read more: EU, Qatar, Iran and Turkey condemn latest massacre of Egypt protesters
7/30/13
The Middle East Turmoil Trap - by Javier Solana
Instability continues to spread in the Middle East, with the military coup in Egypt the latest episode to trigger political tremors throughout the region. With its 85 million people and strategically vital location, Egypt is the most important country on the Mediterranean’s southern shore. Continuing the democratization process that began there in 2011 is urgent.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamist government, led by Mohamed Morsi, demonstrated all too well its incompetence and incapacity to ensure an inclusive democratic transition. But the solution offered by Egypt’s military is far from ideal. Coups always tend to exacerbate problems, not solve them, and this one is no exception.
Read more: The Middle East Turmoil Trap by Javier Solana - Project Syndicate
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamist government, led by Mohamed Morsi, demonstrated all too well its incompetence and incapacity to ensure an inclusive democratic transition. But the solution offered by Egypt’s military is far from ideal. Coups always tend to exacerbate problems, not solve them, and this one is no exception.
The first consequence is that Egyptian society is even more divided over the question of political legitimacy. Morsi’s supporters cite the legitimacy of his victory in a democratic election a year ago – and the illegitimacy of the army’s coup and detention of the deposed president – while his opponents defend the legitimacy of the massive, countrywide protests against him.
The Muslim Brotherhood tried to go too far too fast. Its Islamist agenda put crucial state institutions – namely, the army and the judiciary – on edge and clashed with the liberal, modernizing demands of its opponents. The Tamarod movement, which organized the protests that led to Morsi’s ouster, celebrated the military’s decision to intervene.
That precedent is, without doubt, dangerous for a fledgling democracy. The Islamists must have representation in order to ensure that they do not renounce the ballot box as a means of pursuing their objectives.
Neither the Islamists nor the military can build a new regime against the will of a significant part of the population. Despite Morsi’s poor performance in office – a year in which he presided over grave economic deterioration – a solution that served the cause of national and regional stability would have been preferable.
Read more: The Middle East Turmoil Trap by Javier Solana - Project Syndicate
7/26/13
U.S. will not declare whether coup occurred in Egypt says U.S. official
The Obama administration told lawmakers on Thursday it does not intend to make a determination on whether a military coup occurred in Egypt, a senior U.S. official said, in a move that avoids a decision that would automatically force the cut-off of U.S. aid.
Read more: U.S. will not declare whether coup occurred in Egypt: U.S. official | Reuters
Read more: U.S. will not declare whether coup occurred in Egypt: U.S. official | Reuters
7/17/13
Egypt turmoil: Interim cabinet sworn in
A new interim Egyptian government has been sworn in, with army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the ousting of Mohammed Morsi, becoming deputy PM as well as defence minister.
Hazem al-Beblawi is the new PM, under the interim President Adly Mansour.
The swearing in followed another night of violence between security forces and Morsi supporters that left seven dead.
A spokesman for Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood called the interim government "illegitimate".
Read more: BBC News - Egypt turmoil: Interim cabinet sworn in
Hazem al-Beblawi is the new PM, under the interim President Adly Mansour.
The swearing in followed another night of violence between security forces and Morsi supporters that left seven dead.
A spokesman for Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood called the interim government "illegitimate".
Read more: BBC News - Egypt turmoil: Interim cabinet sworn in
7/15/13
Egypt - USA: Egypt Islamists march as senior U.S. official visits - by Maggie Fick and Peter Graff
The first senior U.S. official to visit Egypt since the army toppled its elected president meets officials on Monday to urge them to swiftly restore democracy, while thousands of supporters of the ousted Islamist leader take to the streets.
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns arrived in a divided capital where both sides are furious at the United States, the superpower which supports Egypt with $1.5 billion in annual aid, mostly for the army that deposed President Mohamed Mursi.
Crisis in the Arab world's most populous state, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and straddles the strategic Suez Canal, has alarmed allies in the region and the West.
Washington is torn between its professed support for democracy and its clear uneasiness at the rise of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, so far refusing to say whether it views Mursi's removal as a coup, which would require it to halt its aid.
Islamists, who have maintained a vigil demanding Mursi be reinstated, have called a mass protest for Monday, as have Mursi's secularist opponents. Demonstrations in Cairo have been largely peaceful for the past week after at least 92 people were killed in the days after Mursi was toppled.
Two rows of armored personnel carriers were in place near the mosque square in northeast Cairo where Mursi supporters have maintained their vigil. Barbed wire was blocking the street leading from the protest site to the Republican Guard barracks, scene of the worst violence a week ago when uniformed snipers were filmed firing from the rooftops into a crowd.
Read more: Egypt Islamists march as senior U.S. official visits - Yahoo! News
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns arrived in a divided capital where both sides are furious at the United States, the superpower which supports Egypt with $1.5 billion in annual aid, mostly for the army that deposed President Mohamed Mursi.
Crisis in the Arab world's most populous state, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and straddles the strategic Suez Canal, has alarmed allies in the region and the West.
Washington is torn between its professed support for democracy and its clear uneasiness at the rise of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, so far refusing to say whether it views Mursi's removal as a coup, which would require it to halt its aid.
Islamists, who have maintained a vigil demanding Mursi be reinstated, have called a mass protest for Monday, as have Mursi's secularist opponents. Demonstrations in Cairo have been largely peaceful for the past week after at least 92 people were killed in the days after Mursi was toppled.
Two rows of armored personnel carriers were in place near the mosque square in northeast Cairo where Mursi supporters have maintained their vigil. Barbed wire was blocking the street leading from the protest site to the Republican Guard barracks, scene of the worst violence a week ago when uniformed snipers were filmed firing from the rooftops into a crowd.
Read more: Egypt Islamists march as senior U.S. official visits - Yahoo! News
7/12/13
Egypt: "The Turkish Compass": In Egypt, It's Not About "Hillary Clinton's Age But the Age of Hillary Clinton - by Andrew C. McCarthy
"Ramesh, I don’t know about “Hillary Clinton’s Age but I do know, when I look at what’s happening in Egypt, that we are living in the Age of Hillary Clinton.
I elaborated on Mrs. Clinton’s pronouncement in a Corner post a little over a year ago, citing to what Madame Secretary was telling the Arabic press (al-Ahram reporting) and tying it into the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood implementation of Erdogan’s strategy in Turkey: gradually impose sharia by exploiting Western progressives’ hostility to military governance – which is the only kind of governance in which Western liberalism has a chance to take root in a majority Islamic-supremacist society:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is doing her part to help the Muslim Brotherhood implement the Turkey Strategy in Egypt. As I’ve pointed out before, if you want to see what’s going to happen in Egypt, look at Turkey, where the military was Atatürk’s bulwark against what would otherwise be the certainty that Islamists would overwhelm the pro-Western civil society the Kemalists labored against Islamic norms to build. (Caroline Glick makes a similar argument in a characteristically sharp post.)
Read more: In Egypt, It's Not About "Hillary Clinton's Age" But the Age of Hillary Clinton | National Review Online
I elaborated on Mrs. Clinton’s pronouncement in a Corner post a little over a year ago, citing to what Madame Secretary was telling the Arabic press (al-Ahram reporting) and tying it into the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood implementation of Erdogan’s strategy in Turkey: gradually impose sharia by exploiting Western progressives’ hostility to military governance – which is the only kind of governance in which Western liberalism has a chance to take root in a majority Islamic-supremacist society:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is doing her part to help the Muslim Brotherhood implement the Turkey Strategy in Egypt. As I’ve pointed out before, if you want to see what’s going to happen in Egypt, look at Turkey, where the military was Atatürk’s bulwark against what would otherwise be the certainty that Islamists would overwhelm the pro-Western civil society the Kemalists labored against Islamic norms to build. (Caroline Glick makes a similar argument in a characteristically sharp post.)
Read more: In Egypt, It's Not About "Hillary Clinton's Age" But the Age of Hillary Clinton | National Review Online
7/10/13
Egypt: Forget the Coup: Egypt's Economy Is the Real Problem - by Ben W. Heineman Jr.
Egypt's political dilemmas are based, in important part, on its economic dilemmas. But since the overthrow of the Morsi government, far less attention has been paid to crucial economic issues than the political and constitutional conflicts. But economic issues--and the lack of a legitimated economic vision--have been as much a cause of the unrest, change and uncertainty in Egypt, and during both the Mubarak and Morsi tenures. And they may be more intractable.
Any new permanent government will face the choice Morsi had but never made: between market economic reforms on the one hand, led by economists and business people to promote growth, jobs, and trade, and a command-and-control statist economy on the other, which provides subsidies for essentials like energy and staples like bread, rice, and sugar--and also provides sinecures for ex-military officers. Part of the problem is that "liberalizing" reforms--there have been three waves since the end of Nassar's regime than 40 years ago--are perceived as helping the rich and reflecting crony capitalism, rather than raising Egypt as a whole.
Morsi's inability to chart a clear economic path led to a significant worsening of Egypt's economic straits, which in turn helped mobilize the powerful street opposition. From just before 2011 to today: GDP growth is down (from nearly 6 percent to under 2 percent); unemployment is up (from 9 percent to over 13 percent); foreign exchange reserves are down (from $35 billion to just under $15 billion); the budget deficit has more than doubled (from nearly $110 billion to over $230 billion); a quarter of that budget are subsidies to poor and middle class; and the poor and near-poor total approximately half of the population.
Tourism is down significantly due to security concerns; direct foreign investment has declined sharply; gasoline and power shortages bedevil the population; a slide in the Egyptian currency has raised prices of foreign goods such as food imports; wealth distribution is badly skewed; the nation's credit rating is cratering; the hidden "black" economy constitutes as much as 40 percent of Egyptian economic activity. And corruption continues.
Read more: Forget the Coup: Egypt's Economy Is the Real Problem - Ben W. Heineman Jr. - The Atlantic
Any new permanent government will face the choice Morsi had but never made: between market economic reforms on the one hand, led by economists and business people to promote growth, jobs, and trade, and a command-and-control statist economy on the other, which provides subsidies for essentials like energy and staples like bread, rice, and sugar--and also provides sinecures for ex-military officers. Part of the problem is that "liberalizing" reforms--there have been three waves since the end of Nassar's regime than 40 years ago--are perceived as helping the rich and reflecting crony capitalism, rather than raising Egypt as a whole.
Morsi's inability to chart a clear economic path led to a significant worsening of Egypt's economic straits, which in turn helped mobilize the powerful street opposition. From just before 2011 to today: GDP growth is down (from nearly 6 percent to under 2 percent); unemployment is up (from 9 percent to over 13 percent); foreign exchange reserves are down (from $35 billion to just under $15 billion); the budget deficit has more than doubled (from nearly $110 billion to over $230 billion); a quarter of that budget are subsidies to poor and middle class; and the poor and near-poor total approximately half of the population.
Tourism is down significantly due to security concerns; direct foreign investment has declined sharply; gasoline and power shortages bedevil the population; a slide in the Egyptian currency has raised prices of foreign goods such as food imports; wealth distribution is badly skewed; the nation's credit rating is cratering; the hidden "black" economy constitutes as much as 40 percent of Egyptian economic activity. And corruption continues.
Read more: Forget the Coup: Egypt's Economy Is the Real Problem - Ben W. Heineman Jr. - The Atlantic
7/8/13
Egypt: 73% Oppose U.S. Involvement in Egypt says Rasmussen Poll
Despite the growing political chaos in Egypt, U.S. voters remain adamant that the United States should not get involved.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 73% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the United States should leave the situation in Egypt alone. Just 10% think America should get more involved. Seventeen percent (17%) are not sure.
Read more: 73% Oppose U.S. Involvement in Egypt - Rasmussen Reports™
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 73% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the United States should leave the situation in Egypt alone. Just 10% think America should get more involved. Seventeen percent (17%) are not sure.
Read more: 73% Oppose U.S. Involvement in Egypt - Rasmussen Reports™
7/4/13
Turkey says Egyptian leader's ouster by military is 'unacceptable' - "could Erdogan be next?"
Turkey, which had formed an emerging alliance with Egypt's ousted Islamist leader Muhammed Morsi, on Thursday slammed the democratically elected leader's overthrow by the military as "unacceptable" and called for his release from house arrest.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government has been watching developments in Egypt with concern as the armed forces ousted Morsi, an Islamist and Egypt's first democratically elected president.
Turkey last month was hit by a wave of protests against Erdogan's perceived authoritarianism and his attempts to impose his conservative views in a society that is ruled by secular laws. Morsi's removal follows protests by Egyptians angry over what they see as his efforts to impose control through the Muslim Brotherhood and his failures to deal with the country's multiple problems.
Erdogan's government has an aversion to military intervention in politics and since coming to power a decade ago, has curtailed the powers of the pro-secular Turkish military, which has staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and forced an Islamic-led government out of office in 1997.
Read more: Turkey says Egyptian leader's ouster by military is 'unacceptable' | Fox News
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government has been watching developments in Egypt with concern as the armed forces ousted Morsi, an Islamist and Egypt's first democratically elected president.
Turkey last month was hit by a wave of protests against Erdogan's perceived authoritarianism and his attempts to impose his conservative views in a society that is ruled by secular laws. Morsi's removal follows protests by Egyptians angry over what they see as his efforts to impose control through the Muslim Brotherhood and his failures to deal with the country's multiple problems.
Erdogan's government has an aversion to military intervention in politics and since coming to power a decade ago, has curtailed the powers of the pro-secular Turkish military, which has staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and forced an Islamic-led government out of office in 1997.
Read more: Turkey says Egyptian leader's ouster by military is 'unacceptable' | Fox News
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