Obama in Egypt: Then and Now

Just four short years ago if you asked any by-stander on the streets of Cairo, what do you think about the American President? You will probably get an answer like, "Oh, Love Obama" or "Obama Number One".

These were just some of the great things I heard about Obama from my Egyptian host family and friends in 2009 following Obama's visit to American University in Cairo.

Fast forward to today and you get...

*As a side note: In my opinion, Obama doesn't look bad with a beard*

Utter hate for Obama Administration for supplying money to terrorists, Mubarak, Morsi, and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Obama Administration has outraged Egyptians calling him a terrorist supporters and other fowl language names.

Many of the younger Egyptians have no clue what they want done for their country, but what they do know is that they do not want to the Muslim Brother hood in power. Through out the recent protest the Obama administration has remain silent--with good reason. After supplying approximately $85 billion in aid to the military and the government of Mubarak and Morsi, Obama's administration has some explaining to do for Egyptians and the American people.

Unfortunately, the United States has a larger interest in looking of for its economic trade agreements than the well being of Egyptians in other countries. The distribution of this aid came with several conditions which the American and Egyptian government alike refused to carry out and comply with; unfortunately--as many people already know--the Muslim Brotherhood was not able to rule democratically and the U.S. still aided them in order to protect investments in the Suez Canal.

And yet Obama now admits that he did supply money to the Morsi regime and will continue to supply money to the military as long as they continue "democratically"

Where the U.S. spends its money has been watched for a long time, but allowing this continue must stop. There must be more strict conditions to set for countries that we give money to and using the embassies in those countries as liaisons to manage if the money is being spend wisely. Another solution would be is to keep our noses out of the Middle East for fear of another Iran-like hostage crisis.

With the hate for American aid to the U.S. and the idea that the U.S. helped put Morsi in power, Egyptian have the right to be upset with the U.S., and because of this with tensions high and several university students and American embassy employees it is a matter of safety. If our administration does care about the Egyptian people at least care about the safety of your own people and learn from history.







 

Who's in the Race?--For the Egyptian Elections

If you haven't read anything about Egypt with in the past month--aka; you've been living under a rock--the one thing you might want to know is that they are finally going to have reelections after President Morsi was kicked out--which some people are calling a coup.


To understand why it is not a coup I suggest you read this article by a friend of mine who knows what she's talking about.

To understand why the US cares so much about Egypt in the financial sense please read this article.

But, what of these new elections?
 To begin interim President Abdli Mansour wants to hold elections as soon as possible. With all the violence going on due to opposition from the Muslim Brotherhood this process needs to be done efficiently and quickly. But as seen from mistakes of the last elections efficiently is not exactly what Egyptians are known for; however, with the quickness and efficiency of their four day protests it was significant and possibly foreshadowing of the time it will take to reelect a new leader.

With a timetable of 210 days Egypt seems close to a new constitution and leader; unfortunately, today Al Jazeera posted that the Muslim Brotherhood is pushing back on interim administration's timetable. Monday, Egypt closed down the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo and found guns and ammunition inside; clearly a sign that not only are the protests to blame for violence, but the Muslim Brotherhood themselves for demonstrating against protesters with violence. Even more ironic when the Brotherhood asked the country to stop the internal massacres.

So, whose going to be in the running?
 With the Brotherhood headquarters shut down and thousands of Egyptian infuriated with Morsi and the former constitution designed with articles from the Muslim Brotherhood, if Egyptian are caution they can avoid the corruption of this next election by creating their Constitution first.

In this new Constitution they should clearly lay out guidelines for rulers and their rights. Make sure the people are given unalienable rights and freedoms and create a state that has freedom of religion. Then proceed to see if candidates can follow these new articles created in the constitution, and see who may fit the bill.

1. Mohamed ElBaradei


A more radical liberal in Egypt who also studied in the United States and assisted the UN as a nuclear watchdog, according to several liberal Egyptian Muslims does not care for Islam as a religion and would not tolerate it in the state.

My vote for President?
No, Egypt needs a ruler like Mandela was for South Africa, that will pull the nation out of a time of crisis and conflict and settle disputes among groups.

2. Hazem El-Beblawi

 

A professor of economics at the University of Alexandria, also the founder of the Social Democratic Party and previously served as finance and economic prime minister, but had strong opposition to the Mubarak regime.

My vote for him?
Yes, the number one problem for all Egyptians is finances and the economic downturn. With his help they can turn their economy around and restore Egypt to a powerhouse of the tourism industry.


 

Egypt: The Modern Day French Revolution

Between 2011 and now, Egypt's attempts at a "democratic" government have been similar to the attempts made by France around 1848.

Granted there is no guillotine--but plenty of riots, gun fire, and harassment of by-standers. With less the 48 hours to either resign or pull out his own ultimatum, President Morsi has a few options, but what is not being accounted for is the fact that the method by which they want him to be taken from power. So here is what I foresee as possible options:

1. Morsi resigns--hooray for some Egyptian and disappointment with others--no one was ever 100% with the decisions made in the French Revolution. Then the military will take over delaying any plans for citizens to elect a new leader or create a constitution within a reasonable amount of time.

2.  Morsi stays in office and protests continue until either
      a. Islamic Brotherhood begins to arrest people for treason.
      b. Protesters hunt down and hope for Morsi's death

3. Nothing happens and Morsi stays in office and the protesters find a different plan of attack to get Morsi to resign or reelect a new leader. The problem with this is that radicals on the opposite side of the Muslim Brotherhood may come to power such as Dr. Mohammed el Bardai who is hateful of Islam.

In order for there to be concrete decision, a firm foundation of a constitution must be put in place first, much like how the United States had the Constitution. We also had difficulties coming up with proper wording and success, but after the Articles of Confederation we were able to breach a compromise. An assembly of the people must come together in an open forum to do the same for Egypt.