Speak Softly and Carry No Stick

From James Traub, at Foreign Policy, "Welcome to the Obama Doctrine in Egypt":

President Barack Obama, we know, believes in "engagement." He believes that maintaining ties even with the most hateful regimes holds out the possibility of progress. In his Nobel Peace Prize speech he mocked moralists -- implicitly including his predecessor, George W. Bush -- who preferred "the satisfying purity of indignation" to the hard and very impure work of diplomacy. And that, I imagine, is why Obama has reacted so cautiously to the shocking massacres in Egypt, canceling planned military exercises but leaving U.S. military aid intact.

I think this is a serious mistake. But the calculus that may have lead Obama to his decision is one that I would have admired in a different context. It's a calculus that needs to be reckoned with. I'll try to do that here.

More at that link. And on Twitter:

Is it me, or are those "shit, maybe the Bush crowd wasn't so bad" conversations becoming more frequent in the foreign policy milieu?

— لودو (@Abu_Saskia) August 16, 2013

Egyptian Bloodbath on Muslim Brotherhood's 'Day of Rage'

At Reuters, "Dozens die in Egyptian bloodbath on Islamists' ‘Day of Rage’" (via Memeorandum):

(Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood defiantly called for a week of protests across Egypt starting on Saturday, a day after more than 100 people died in clashes between Islamists and the security forces that pushed the country ever closer to anarchy.

Undeterred by the bloodshed in which about 700 have been killed since Wednesday, the Brotherhood urged its supporters back onto the streets to denounce the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and a crackdown on his followers.

"Our rejection of the coup regime has become an Islamic, national and ethical obligation that we can never abandon," said the Brotherhood, which has accused Egypt's military of plotting the downfall of Mursi last month to regain the levers of power.

Many Western allies have denounced the killings, including the United States, but Saudi Arabia threw its weight behind the army-backed government on Friday, accusing its old foe the Muslim Brotherhood of trying to destabilize Egypt.

Plus, a clip featuring Jamie Colby at Fox News, "Dramatic Video: Egyptian Protesters Jump From Bridge to Escape Gun Fire."

Previous entries here, here, here, and here.

Egypt's Anguish

At the Los Angeles Times, "After Egypt crackdown, charred remains of the Islamists' cause."

And, "Egypt crisis not likely to damage U.S. security interests in region."

Well, that depends on how you define the word "interests."



Previous entries here, here, and here.

Lisa Daftari on the Latest Egypt Violence

This segment was on just in the last hour.



This morning's earlier entries here and here.

New Bloodshed as Egypt Crisis Escalates

At the New York Times, "New Bloodshed in Egypt as Islamists Defy Threat of Force."

Blood on Muslim Brotherhood's Hands — and Obama's

From Ralph Peters, at the New York Post, "This blood is on the hands of Muslim Brotherhood":

What do we want the future Egypt to look like? A flawed, hybrid democracy, or a Sunni Muslim version of Iran? Based on his bluster yesterday about events on the Nile, Secretary of State John Kerry prefers the latter.

And Kerry’s remarks must have had White House approval.

In full outrage mode, America’s most famous windsurfer castigated the Egyptian authorities, insisting that the Muslim Brotherhood had a right to “peaceful protests.” Apparently, “peaceful” means armed with Kalashnikovs, killing policemen, kidnapping and torturing opponents, turning mosques into prisons, attacking Christians and burning Coptic churches.

The Brotherhood protesters rejected all offers of compromise and all demands to disperse. The interim government’s response was heavy-handed, but the Muslim Brothers chose violent resistance — using women and children as shields (a tactic typical of Islamist terrorists).

Do we really need to have sympathy for the devil?

With its blundering, fickle, late-in-the-day support for whoever appeared to be gaining the upper hand, the Obama administration has managed the remarkable feat of alienating every faction in Egypt. And it’s a sorry day when an American administration abets religious totalitarianism, as this White House did when the “democratically elected” Morsi regime tried to Islamize Egypt’s government and society for keeps.

There was, indeed, a coup. But not all coups involve tanks. The real coup came after Egypt’s premature, badly flawed election, when Morsi and the Brotherhood excluded all non-Brothers from the political process; curtailed media freedoms and jailed journalists; attacked Christians; and rushed toward an Islamist state that the majority of Egyptians did not want.

Tens of millions of Muslims took to the streets to protest the Brotherhood’s plunge toward tyranny. Only after attempts to persuade an unrepentant Morsi to compromise failed, did the military move against the regime. The people cheered.

Yet our breathtakingly inept ambassador backed the Morsi regime right to the end. That isn’t diplomacy. It’s idiocy.

But all you have to do to create witless panic in Washington is cry “Military coup!” Well, sometimes — regrettably — a military is all that stands between a population and deadly (and anti-American) fanaticism. Despite yesterday’s bloodshed, would we really prefer a return to Brotherhood rule? Stuff the political correctness and get real.

Great piece.

More at the link.

U.S. Pleas Fail to Stave Off Crackdown

Amazingly so.

At WSJ, "Hundreds Dead in Egypt: Security Forces' Efforts to Clear Cairo Sit-Ins Sparks Violence; At Least 421 People Killed Across Egyptt":

CAIRO—Egypt's military regime, aided by snipers and bulldozers, swept the streets of Islamist protesters Wednesday—setting off a day of violence that left at least 421 people dead, the government fractured and ties with its international partners in tatters.

Cairo's streets were calm Thursday morning following a curfew overnight, with funerals for the dead and further protests expected later in the day.

Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers stormed police stations Wednesday, burned down churches and battled with government supporters in several neighborhoods, after police sweeps left scores of protesters dead at two Cairo squares. The raid ended more than a month of sit-ins by thousands of Brotherhood supporters—sometimes joined by families, and daring the government to disperse them—who demanded the reinstatement of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

Egypt's interim president declared a monthlong, national state of emergency—raising Egyptians' fears of extended conflict, further crackdowns and the prospect that the military regime they struggled to overthrow in 2011 was reasserting control.

The country's interim vice president, Mohamed ElBaradei, resigned. His exit stripped away an important veneer of civilian participation in the regime set up by the military's chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who responded to popular protests against Mr. Morsi by removing him and installing the interim government.

Swift and severe condemnation of the deadly attacks and state of emergency rolled in from Turkey, Europe and the United Nations. The U.S., one of Egypt's chief allies and benefactors, called the events deplorable and threatened to call off joint military exercises that were set to start next month.

More here.

Plus, "U.S. Can't Prevent Massive Loss of Live."

You think?

Photos from Cairo's Rabaa al-Adaweya Square

On Facebook.

And extremely compelling.

Of course, authenticity is unverified, although there's lots more breaking news on Twitter.

And at eNews Channel Africa, "Twitter updates on Egypt 'massacre'," and Global Post, "Massacre in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adaweya Square."



Previous reports here and here, here, here, and here.

Massacre at Egypt's al-Nahda Square in Giza

Warning: This graphic video reportedly shows charred bodies from the assault on the protest camp at al-Nahda Square.



An eyewitness account here, "Clearing of Brotherhood’s Nahda Protest Site: An Eyewitness Statement." And on Facebook here.

More at #Nahda on Twitter.

And at the Middle East Monitor, "Egypt security forces launch operation in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares."

Previous reports here and here, here, and here.

Asmaa Beltagy Killed in Egypt Crackdown

Just 17-years-old --- what an age to die.

Via Twitter.

Hat Tip: New York Times.



Previous reports here and here, and here.

Egypt Bloodshed May Be Ill Omen for Broader Region

This is really f-ked up.

Previous reports here and here.

And a new report at the New York Times":

The ferocious assaults by Egyptian security forces to rout Islamist protesters on Wednesday have reinforced fears that political change toward tolerant democracies in the Arab world, exalted as the possible outcome of the revolutionary fervor that toppled autocracies in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia a few years ago, has faded into a fleeting and perhaps unattainable ideal.

In Egypt, where the first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, has been languishing in detention for more than a month, the polarization of society and economic paralysis have reached new extremes, a state of emergency has been declared and protester encampments in the capital, Cairo, are like war zones.

In Tunisia, the birthplace of the so-called Arab Spring, the moderate Islamist government that took power is increasingly fragile.

Libya remains marred by violent lawlessness and Islamist extremism nearly two years after its strongman, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, was killed. Syria, where the political opposition once drew inspiration from Colonel Qaddafi’s demise, has sunk into a catastrophic and jihadist-tinged civil war, with no sign that President Bashar al-Assad has any intention of leaving power and with increasing indications that his country could be the next big haven for Al Qaeda and its affiliates.

Throughout the region, the demands of millions of ordinary citizens who have clamored for change — for jobs, food, health care and basic security to live their lives in peace — have not been addressed by the political upheavals so far. If anything their grievances have worsened.

“What started out being an Arab Spring is quickly morphing into something much larger,” said Andrew J. Tabler, a scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. In Egypt’s case, he said, “you’re not only seeing unprecedented levels of clashes, but I think you’re seeing the increased demands of everyday people — now part of the governance factor. This is proving to be extremely unstable.”

Continue reading.

It's an ill omen for Barack Hussein's Muslim reset foreign policy as well. He went to Cairo to proclaim a new era, yet America's backing of the Muslim Brotherhood is one of the major causes of the bloodshed.

Journalists Killed in Egypt Crackdown

Picking up on my earlier entry, here's London's Daily Mail, "British cameraman shot dead while reporting for Sky on Egypt bloodbath as protesters say as many as 149 have been killed."

Sky News cameraman Mick Deane has been killed. More at WaPo, "Husband of former Post reporter among journalists killed in Egypt violence."

Also at Reuters, "Egypt imposes state of emergency after 149 people killed in clashes."

More at Memeorandum.

Added: From the New York Times, "Scores Killed in Crackdown on Morsi Supporters."

Dozens Killed as Police Clear Protest Camps in Cairo

The Wall Street Journal's got the lowball figure, "Ten Killed as Egyptian Troops Move Against Pro-Morsi Sit-In: Muslim Brotherhood Leaders Had Vowed to Send Supporters to March on Government Buildings."

But see Reuters, "Egyptian police kill at least 30 in protest crackdown: Brotherhood," and Telegraph UK, "Egypt troops clear Morsi protests: live."



More video here.

Don't Underestimate the al-Qaeda Threat

An editorial at USA Today, "Keep al-Qaeda's threats in perspective: Our view."

I'm skeptical al Qaeda is "overwhelmingly unpopular" across the Islamic world, as the piece argues. Polls routinely show high support for terrorism against the West, so it's hardly credible to say these same populations don't back al Qaeda in significant numbers. (See the Religion of Peace for a roundup of opinion, "A 'Tiny Minority of Extremists'?")

Otherwise, an interesting editorial.

And see, "U.S. evacuates embassy in Yemen; drones hit al-Qaeda."

Obama Schedules White House Meeting with Muslim Brotherhood Officials

Barack Hussein wants to keep those murderers in power in Egypt, and a Turkish delegation is overseeing the meeting.

(Head hits desk.)

At Atlas Shrugs, "OBAMA REPORTEDLY TO MEET WITH MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD OFFICIALS IN THE WHITE HOUSE."



PHOTO CREDIT: Gateway Pundit.

More Than 100 Morsi Supporters Dead in Egypt Violence

At London's Daily Mail, "Bloodbath in Cairo: More than 120 dead and 1,000 injured after police 'shoot to kill' in violent clashes which have rocked Egypt."

And at BNI, "EXCELLENT! Reports out of Egypt allege more than 100 pro-Morsi rioters killed by Egyptian Army."

Added: Lots more at Blazing Cat Fur.



More here, "Chaos Grips Egypt — Again."

Chaos Grips Egypt — Again

At Reuters, "Violence deepens Egypt turmoil, deposed leader probed for murder."

And the New York Times, "Violence Erupts After Mass Rallies Over Fate of Egypt."

And here's the kicker, "Aid to Egypt Can Keep Flowing, Despite Overthrow, White House Decides":

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has concluded it is not legally required to determine whether the Egyptian military engineered a coup d’état in ousting President Mohamed Morsi, a senior administration official said Thursday, a finding that will allow it to continue to funnel $1.5 billion in American aid to Egypt each year.

The legal opinion, submitted to the White House by lawyers from the State Department and other agencies, amounts to an escape hatch for President Obama and his advisers, who had concluded that cutting off financial assistance could destabilize Egypt at an already fragile moment and would pose a threat to neighbors like Israel.

The senior official did not describe the legal reasoning behind the finding, saying only, “The law does not require us to make a formal determination as to whether a coup took place, and it is not in our national interest to make such a determination.”

“We will not say it was a coup, we will not say it was not a coup, we will just not say,” the official said.

The most corrupt administration in history, completely lawless.

Previous Egypt blogging is here, with plenty of chaos.

Photographer Ahmed Assem Videotapes Moment of His Own Death During Clashes in Cairo

Man, this is intense, at NYT, "Parents Mourn Photographer Killed in Cairo."

Egypt Descends Into Chaos

Today's front-page story at the Wall Street Journal, "Dozens Killed in Clash Between Military, Morsi Supporters; Elections Planned" (via the Other McCain).

Egypt Braces for More Killings

My first thought at the coup was that Egypt was going to be in for a lot of violence.

Unfortunately, it's indeed turning out that way.

At the Guardian UK, "At least 51 protesters killed in Egypt as army opens fire 'like pouring rain'."

Also, "Egypt braced for more violence after 'massacre' of Morsi supporters."