The news from Egypt is once again disturbing. Over 600 people died yesterday. Some were policemen and military, and some were supporters of ousted President Morsi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. And there were deaths of Christians and regular Egyptians who got in the way.
The President of the United States gave a speech today where he condemned the violence. Mostly he chastised the military and the interim government for the violent crackdown on the sit-in protests of the Muslim Brotherhood. The president cancelled a training exercise but stopped short of cutting off aid to the Egyptian military.
It looks like John McCain and Lindsey Graham are going to make a trip to Egypt. McCain was one of the first to call for ending our aid to Egypt after the ouster of Morsi by the Egyptian military.
Rand Paul has also called for an end to our aid to the Egyptian military. I usually find myself in agreement with Rand Paul, and as a fiscal conservative I do realize that the money we are sending to Egypt is money the United States cannot afford. I will acknowledge that our laws say we must cut off aid to any country that has a military coup, and it is hard to argue that what happened in Egypt does not technically fit that description.
Having said that, I think everyone is missing the point. When we have Tea Party demonstrations or when Occupy Wall Street has a sit in protest, the folks who show up and voice their opinion are mostly peaceful, and for the most part represent ordinary citizens with a common point of view, letting their point of view be heard. From President Obama’s speech today one would get the impression that the Muslim Brotherhood is a peaceful group of people who just want to voice a political opinion.
The Muslim Brotherhood is a well organized military organization. They are a large group of terrorist thugs. The Muslim Brotherhood does not represent the Islamic religion. This is the group that went around the country yesterday burning down churches. When Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood came to power they began in an orderly and purposeful manner to systematically destroy civil liberties and democracy in Egypt.
The head of the Egyptian military is General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. He is the one responsible for bringing peace and security back to Egypt. He is the one who removed Morsi from office, and many people mistakenly believe he organized a coup in order to take power himself. He does not need power; he already has it.
The central misconception is that the military moved in and stole power from a democratically elected leader. The truth is that Morsi abandoned democracy, took away civil liberties, and moved toward a totalitarian state. The people of Egypt, having just tasted freedom, were having none of it. The Egyptian people rose up and overthrew Morsi, with the help of the military. Time will tell if I am wrong and Sisi wants to be a dictator. But the Egyptian people do not believe that to be the case.
With their leader ousted, the Muslim Brotherhood thugs and the military both knew this would come down to a violent confrontation. The military has overwhelming force and the Muslim Brotherhood cannot defeat them militarily and so they are resorting to terrorism, like the spoiled children that they are.
Nobody wants to see so many deaths. Everyone wishes the circumstances were different but they are not. We all respect honest political protest. We all respect peaceful religious views. We all want a democratic Egypt where the leaders respect the rights of individuals. All of us, except perhaps the Muslim Brotherhood.
Barack Obama and the media have made very little mention of the burning of churches. Our president and most of our media want to paint a benevolent picture of the Muslim Brotherhood that is not in line with reality. Just ask the Coptic Christian community. Just ask the secular people in Egypt. Or ask the peaceful Muslims who tried to stand up to The Muslim Brotherhood and prevent churches from being burned.
There will come a time when I will call for a cutoff of aid to Egypt, because we have our own financial problems to deal with. But now is not that time. Sorry, Senator Paul.
Here is an article on the torching of Christian churches, something the media seems to be glossing over. http://m.nationalreview.com/corner/355761/peaceful-brotherhood-protesters-torching-coptic-christian-churches-andrew-c-mccarthy
And here is a piece on how misguided US policy is turning Egypt against the US (and toward Russia). http://freebeacon.com/obama-policies-turning-egypt-against-u-s/
Here is the NBC World News report on the President’s speech. http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/15/20033815-obama-condemns-egypt-over-violence-cancels-joint-military-exercise?lite
Here is the CBS report, noting that the president does not want to take sides. http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/08/15/obama-we-dont-take-sides/
And here is the report from Reuters. Note the UAE feels the military has already exercised a lot of restraint. http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE97C09A20130815?irpc=932
Here is the statement from Senator Paul along with an article. Again, I just don’t think he gets it. He supports liberty, which is what the Egyptian people are asking for. http://www.paul.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=925 http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/08/15/rand_paul_slams_congress_for_aiding_egypt_how_does_your_conscience_feel_now
You see, Morsi and his Brotherhood are enemies of Liberty, and they are not just going to lay down. They have been persecuting Christians. www.jihadwatch.org/2013/08/there-has-been-more-persecution-of-christians-in-egypt-the-last-year-under-morsi-than-there-has-been.html
The Jews want the Muslim Brotherhood declared a hate group, which is a little weak. frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/wiesenthal-center-calls-on-obama-to-recognize-muslim-brotherhood-as-a-hate-group
Here is an article from early July. It seems President Obama and the US ambassador have been consistently worried about making sure the Muslim Brotherhood is treated well, and they do not wish to take sides. mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-05/obama-call-for-muslim-brotherhood-role-overtaken-in-egypt.html
I will stay on the side of liberty, and although my position may not be the popular one right now, I stand with the Egyptian people and against the Muslim Brotherhood. I am hopeful that the military can and will hand over power to a democratically elected secular Egyptian government that will respect the liberty of all Egyptian citizens.
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