Egypt: The futility of foreign intervention
The book sure will serve as an eye-opener and will help understand the dilemma facing countries like Iraq, Libya, Pakistan and Yemen. People who wish to gain an insight into the dynamics of the intelligence world should go through this book.
Anyways, we should now move forward. The recent jailbreaks in Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Pakistan that saw as many as 1,800 Al-Qaeda members gaining freedom that too almost simultaneously from these different geographical locations must have forced curious minds to at least understand that it was more than sheer coincidence.
Soon after these jailbreaks, alleged Al-Qaeda threats led to the closure of US and other Western diplomatic missions in the region. If we connect the dots, it will dawn on us that whatever is happening in the region is part of a grand scheme and these organizations are tools to manipulate political events for results desired by some countries.
Egypt, however, presents a slightly different picture. In the wake of attacks on churches, the Copts could have been manipulated by forces alien to the country to further their designs. Interestingly, the Copts refused to be anything else but Egyptians. That made all the difference as they refused to act as a sect. This nationalistic fervor led to their refusal or somewhat resistance to any foreign interference in the country’s internal matters. It is evident from the fact that they have refused to accept western assistance to protect their churches. They knew that those offers were nothing but a political cover for military and political intervention in Egypt.
Manipulation on sectarian lines is hardly a new phenomenon in this part of the world. It has been successfully tried earlier in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. There have also been attempts to entangle Egypt in such a sectarian strife.
It is not about democracy as the world is made to believe. People privy to the intelligence world and those having links to power corridors are fully aware that in the name of democracy attempts are under way to weaken Egypt and to gain control of this important player of this region.
The Muslim Brotherhood had been slated to come in power since 2008 with the help from Turkey. For this reason, we were not surprised to hear Karima Al-Hafnawi saying that the new Middle East project was planned to be carried out by the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Egyptians, fortunately, smelt rat at an early stage and took to the streets against the Brotherhood-led government and the rest is history. Some even have called for the closure of the Turkish Embassy in Cairo due to its close ties and support for the Brotherhood against the aspirations of the Egyptians. Erdogan’s allegations that what happened in Egypt after June 30 was cooked in Israel only added salt to injury. The irony is that the coordination between Tel Aviv and Ankara has been exceptional even during the artificial crisis between them.
The increasing coordination between Cairo and Moscow is a source of uneasiness for Washington. The coordination may increase if Washington continues pressuring the new Egyptian leadership. The situation is problematic for the US given the perception of a changing international balance in favor of Russia. Moscow may stand up to fill the vacuum. Therefore, the Copts called on Russia — in a document entitled Watan — to reassert its role in the Middle East and not to leave everything for the United States.
Ankara’s reaction to the change in Egypt is very natural as it goes against its aspirations and national interests. Religion is used only as a tool to realize those objectives. Perhaps that was why Ankara had secretly supported the Brotherhood by doling out $8 billion. Turkey made a last-ditch effort to keep its plans intact by inciting the Brotherhood to rebel against the new government in Egypt. It should also be noted that Turkish foreign minister had called for the reinstatement of Morsi for Ankara to make diplomatic efforts in quelling the crisis; a condition that was rejected by the Egyptian leadership.
It appears as if Erdogan is unable to make head or tail of what had happened in Egypt. In a Brotherhood summit reportedly held in Istanbul in the middle of July, participants deliberated on the reasons for the failure of their Egyptian counterparts. After thorough deliberations they called on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to reformulate their alliance with the marginalized sections of society and with radical elements; accuse Israel of supporting the change; and accuse Gen. Sissi of receiving orders from Tel Aviv.
They even tried to mobilize the Egyptian masses by spreading lies such as the drone that had targeted terrorists in Sinai belonged to Israel. Unfortunately, Erdogan does not understand the depth of antipathy toward the Brotherhood among the Arabs. Indeed, people are more confident that they can sketch out their future and they can support any strategic change in the region.
Genuine Islam is not the one as presented by the Brotherhood or Al-Qaeda. True teachings of Islam are in sharp contrast to the ways of these groups and do not support sectarianism. Islam preaches tolerance and advocates a progressive approach. Nobody can ever hijack Islam.
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