In the age of Obama it is possible for Americans to forget that there are leaders who are very shrewd indeed:
Bishop Mousa thanked Sisi for his efforts to repair the damaged churches.
By doing this Col. Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi draws a stark distinction between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian military: The Brotherhood burns churches and the Egyptian military rebuilds them. This ensures growing foreign support for the Egyptian military and underlines in the minds of most Egyptians that if they are sick and tired of endless strife and destruction they must support the military in its struggle against the Muslim Brotherhood. He has also put the issue of the Muslim Brotherhood’s jihad front and center before the Western media. If Sisi ends up in control of Egypt at the end of all of this he might be very formidable if this is a sample of how clever he is.
Now a shrewd US politician needs to draw attention to the burning churches and perhaps wonder out loud why Obama and Kerry continue to support the burning of churches.
“…underlines in the minds of most Egyptians that if they are sick and tired of endless strife and destruction they must suppport the military in its struggle against the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The problem is that there is a sizable percentage of the population of Egypt, sizable enough to get Morsi elected as PM, that is perfectly happy with strife and destruction as long as it is directed at their non-Salafi neighbors.
We enable great evil when we mistake democracy for freedom. Democracy without the foundation of a moral society is simply tyranny with better press. As a whole, Egytian society, like American society is becoming, is unfit for democratic rule.
“The problem is that there is a sizable percentage of the population of Egypt, sizable enough to get Morsi elected as PM, that is perfectly happy with strife and destruction as long as it is directed at their non-Salafi neighbors.”
They had the excuse of ignorance. It is one thing to be the supporter of a political faction agitating against an unpopular regime, and it is quite another to remain a supporter of a faction after it takes power and falls flat on its face. The Muslim Brotherhood had been a consistent enemy of the military regimes that had ruled Egypt since 1952. Rebels tend to be popular until they win.
It’s not so much Sisi’s cleverness/shrewdness.
It’s more Obama’s, Clintion’s, Kerry’s, et alles leftist stupidity and knee-jerk support for any and all dystopian radicals.
If it’s a tactic, it depends on the rest of the world having the capacity to recognize and reward decent acts. It won’t impress those who don’t mind the suppression of Christianity in the Middle East.
Then again, it could be a message to the people of Egypt. Consider the flag of the Egyptian Revolution of 1919 for an idea of what Egyptian national aspiration used to look like. That revolution was a big inspiration for the recent one.
Too cool. Political decency from an unexpected quarter. The Egyptian military obviously has a lot going for it!
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Pinky and everyone else,
I would love to see the return of that flag, WOW!
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