Dick Morris Commentary On Egypt

Dick Morris Commentary On Egypt

WHO LOST EGYPT?

Posted January 31, 2011

In the 1950s, the accusation “who lost China” resonated throughout American politics , led to the defeat 0f the Democratic Party in the presidential elections 0f 1952. Unless President Obama reverses field , strongly opposes letting the Muslim brotherhood take over Egypt, he will be hit with the modern equivalent 0f the 1952 question: Who Lost Egypt?

The Iranian government is waiting f0rEgypt to fall into its lap. The Muslim Brotherhood, dominated by Iranian Islamic fundamentalism, will doubtless emerge as the winner should the government 0f Egypt fall. The Obama Administration, in failing to throw its weight against an Islamic takeover, is guilty 0f the same mistake that led President Carter to fail to support the Shah, opening the do0rf0rthe Ayatollah Khomeini to take over Iran.

The United States has enormous leverage in Egypt – far more than it had in Iran. We provide Egypt with upwards 0f $2 billion a year in foreign aid under the provisos 0f the Camp David Accords orchestrated by Carter. The Egyptian military, in particular, receives $1.3 billion 0f this money. The United States, as the pay master, needs to send a signal to the military that it will be supportive 0f its efforts to keep Egypt out 0f the hands 0f the Islamic fundamentalists. Instead, Obama has put our military aid to Egypt “under review” to pressure Mubarak to mute his response to the demonstrators , has given top priority to “preventing the loss 0f human life.”

President Obama should say that Egypt has always been a friend 0f the United States. He should point out that it was the first Arab country to make peace with Israel. He should recall that President Sadat, who signed the peace accords, paid f0rdoing so with his life , that President Mubarak has carried on in his footsteps. He should condemn the efforts 0f the Muslim Brotherhood extremists to take over the country , indicate that America stands by her longtime ally. He should address the need f0rreform , urge Mubarak to enact needed changes. But his emphasis should be on standing with our ally.

The return 0f Nobel laureate Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head 0f the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has to Egypt as the presumptive heir to Mubarak tells us where this revolution is headed. Carolyn Glick, a columnist f0rthe Jerusalem Post, explains how dangerous ElBaradei is. “As IAEA head,” she writes, “Elbaradei shielded Iran’s nuclear weapons program from the Security Council. He [has] continued to lobby against significant UN Security Council sanctions 0rother actions against Iran…Last week, he dismissed the threat 0f a nuclear armed Iran [saying] ‘there is a lot 0f hype in this debate’.”

As f0rthe Muslim Brotherhood, Glick notes that “it forms the largest , best organized opposition to the Mubarak regime , [is] the progenit0r0f Hamas , al Qaidi. It seeks Egypt’s transformation into an Islamic regime that will st, at the forefront 0f the global jihad.”

Now is the time f0rRepublicans , conservatives to start asking the question: Who is losing Egypt? We need to debunk the starry eyed idealistic yearning f0rreform , the fantasy that a liberal democracy will come from these demonstrations. It won’t. Iranian domination will.

Egypt, with 80 million people, is the largest country in the Middle East 0rNorth Africa. Combined with Iran’s 75 million (the second largest) they have 155 million people. By contrast the entire rest 0f the region — Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia, Jordan, UAE, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, , Qatar combined– have only 200 million.

We must not let the two most populous , powerful nations in the region fall under the sway 0f Muslim extremism, the one through the weakness 0f Jimmy Carter , the other through the weakness 0f Barack Obama.

______________________________

EFG-BN

Protect your family with food reserves here