"The announcement that Egypt will sever all ties with Syria, made by President Mohamed Morsi while addressing thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members at Cairo Stadium Saturday night, reflects a decision made by the president against the advice of top bureaucratic aides, informed government sources say.
The decision was pronounced in the course of an otherwise fiery speech where the president in a high pitch insisted that “Hezbollah should leave Syria.”
It came in the wake of several activities among Islamist figures who underlined the need to support Sunni Syrians against Hezbollah and the Shia-offshoot regime. It also came back to back with a US announcement that it will provide arms for Syrian groups who are fighting — alongside foreign jihadis — to remove the Alawite regime of Bashar Al-Assad" Al-Ahram
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The Mursi "cat' is ever more open about the pattern of his "spots." I understand that his popularity rating is now down in the 20s. This injection of Sunni radical Islamism into Egyptian national policy will undoubtedly be good news in the White House where support from Erdogan's government seems increasingly unlikely. and local allies are needed for the decision to intervene. Jordan is a likely loser in all this. Abdullah's ability to keep the Jordanian political ship on an even keel while managing all those refugees and serving as an American "aircraft carrier" is doubtful. pl
………..and Robert Fisk is reporting that Iran just decided to send a contingent of 4000 Revolutionary Guards to Syria in support of Assad.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-to-send-4000-troops-to-aid-president-assad-forces-in-syria-8660358.html
I wonder how quickly this can spiral into a regional religious war with the West siding with Sunni Al Qaeeda and the Wahabists? WTF?
What is the likelihood of the Egyptian military ousting Mursi and his supporters and turning to the Russians for economic support like they did under Nasser; since it is appearing more likely every day that Obama is unconcerned about the Egyptian people in general, or the Turks?
rhetorical question. Is it possible Iran could be so stupid as to send in troops now? At this precise moment?
What a bloody mess. I guess a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. But from the little I know about the Middle East I’d gladly pay twice the price for oil to have my country out of this quagmire in overt ways. The whole mishmash of beliefs and cultures seems antithetical to ours.
President Morsi is sounding a bit like he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Just like our very own President Obama.
If the price of crude goes up high enough maybe we can get to biofuels after all
What next Russian manning the S300 ? This is looking very bad .
It may be a way by someone to warn someone else that escalation can be made by more than one side.
As is, Iran has a formal defense treaty with Syria which has not yet been invoked.
Since the Iranian leaders, on more than one occasion, have stated that the fall of Mr. Assad’s government is their red line, it stands to reason that they are willing to answer escalation by escalation.
Mursi is worse than Mubarak; in my opinion he stands exposed as a jihadist in anything but name.
I was hoping that Ikhwan could pursue a policy informed by Islam that would address the needs of Egypt and the craving in Egypt for piety and Law in their government.
That is not to be, quite clearly.
The last time there was an explicit inter-state Shia-Sunni War was 200 years ago; may God damn those who brought it back again.
I believe Iran and Syria have a mutual defense pact that they entered into about 7-8 years ago. That being said, it seems both sides perhaps see this opportunity to get neuter the other once and for all, regionally speaking. I suspect there is or will be some behind the scenes deal cut between the Shia and Israel.
PS Rouhani appears to be England’s man from his past, and the fact that he was with Khomeini all the way from the beginning in France.
I think it already is.
Can anyone recommend a good history of the 30 Year’s War?
“Morsi’s speech (urging a Syrian jihad) is also intended to deflect attention from his domestic woes. He is under severe pressure from the Egyptian youth movement, the left, and the secular right. The youth movement has launched a “Rebellion” movement, a petition drive to gather 15 million signatures for Morsi to call early presidential elections, which will culminate in nationwide demonstrations against the president on June 30. In part, the objection is to his authoritarian ruling style, in part to his inability to improve the economy. Morsi’s attempt to establish an interim legislature by appointing members to the senate (Majlis al-Shura) has also been struck down by the courts, leaving him as singular leader without a firm separation of powers, and so hurting his legitimacy. Parliamentary elections may be held in the fall.”
http://www.juancole.com/2013/06/toward-regional-shiite.html
Kudos to you Colonel.
When Morsi and the MB were elected there were on one side those that believed the now obviously naive and romantic notion that the MB would steer Egypt on a diffferent Arabist direction while those on the other side that claimed Egypt would become the new Afghanistan.
Only you called it for exactly what it has turned out to be.
Ok, if mutual defense treaties are what they want to hang their hats on… If all of sudden govt’s start making, possibly, existentialist decisions, because of some pact signed somewhere, by someone. Fine. If they want to say ‘well, there’s nothing we can do about this…we have a defense treaty, I repeat, fine. Let’s see how this plays out.
Yes, Mo – the alternative to secular dictatorship is not democracy; rather Takfiri/Jihadist – that much is clear.
BM: Congratulations on the Iranian elections.
Thank you.
That presumes that a government dominated by a religious movement (even a fanatical, obscurantist one) is not a “democracy.” For all the romantic ideals that naivist (as in those who insist on being naively blind) associate with the term “democracy,” the practice of democracy means that those who can mobilize their supporters best usually have the best shot at taking control of government. Religious movements usually enjoy a huge advantage over its secular rivals in mobilizing and organizing their supporters over an extended period of time.
Fred: Alternatively, we could allow the Egyptian military to enforce the no-fly zone. That is, of course, depends on whether Belize’s Air Force is otherwise occupied.
A better understanding of the Islamic situation would be found from John Bagot Glubb’s The Great Arab Conquests.
In his book Glubb Pasha says today is 1357 years since the assassination of the Uthman ibn Affan which set off the chain of events leading to the schism. (Wiki says it is Thursday.)