Egypt’s own Obama

As the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for...” The change that Egyptians are seeking is a lot like the change Americans sought back in 2008, when the majority of voters wanted to put a resolute end to the administration of George W. Bush. It’s how a little-known and untested Senator from Illinois managed to charm his way into the White House through vague promises of “hope and change.” In their zealous ousting of the long-ruling and much-reviled strongman, Hosni Mubarak, the people of Egypt stand to make the same mistake that Americans made in 2008, except in this case, the mistake could well be fatal to any hopes or dreams of attaining the Arab world’s first spontaneous democracy.

---

Standing in the wings is Egypt’s own Obama, the incompetent and ineffectual Mohamed ElBaradei. Iran ran circles around ElBaradei during his tenure as Secretary General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as did North Korea, with both countries initiating robust nuclear weapons programs that the IAEA was powerless to slow, much less stop. ElBaradei, who doesn’t actually reside in Egypt, has coyly stated that if called upon to lead Egypt, he would be happy to shoulder the burden. ElBaradei would be readily acceptable to Western leaders as a replacement for Mubarak, as they see him as a nuanced, rational and cosmopolitan leader. He would be particularly acceptable to Barak Obama in that it would give the president an opportunity to kick off his own reelection campaign by pointing out to Americans that Egypt has also opted for “hope and change.” But ElBaradei will soon find himself a pawn of the Muslim Brotherhood, the real force behind the events culminating in Mubarak’s ouster. As Obama took the oath of office on Jan 20, 2009, his inaugural speech contained the phrase, “To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.” It’s a promise that hasn’t been kept, which in fact became the catalyst for Egypt’s revolution, as its economy slowly slipped off life support and its people were hard-pressed to feed themselves. And in the true spirit of all community organizers’ admonition to never let a crisis go to waste, The Muslim Brotherhood quietly fomented revolutionary rhetoric and fanned the flames of civil unrest. Under Mubarak, Egypt maintained a stable border with Israel, which essentially brought relative peace to the Middle East. With Mubarak gone, we are left to wonder what will become of that relative peace. Essam el-Erian, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, claimed at a recent press conference that Muslims hold nothing against Jews; it’s Israel and Zionism they have problems with. And Western media outlets dutifully reported this as fact. Given the voluminous admonitions by many Islamic clerics that all good Muslims have a sacred duty to kill Jews wherever they might be found, there is a real chance that this peace will not hold, particularly in a country that believes sharks swimming in the Red Sea are agents of the Mossad and Israel has flooded the streets of Cairo with prostitutes infected with AIDS to start an epidemic. It’s much more likely that the Egyptians are going to wind up trading a headache for a bleeding ulcer, as the Muslim Brotherhood, which is superbly organized and motivated, seizes power and imposes a strict theocracy on Egypt, much in the way the Mullahs have done in Iran. If this comes to pass, then all bets for a stable Middle East are off, as Israel will be forced to defend itself on its northern and southern borders. This is a second Holocaust waiting to happen, thanks to a US administration that has no understanding of geopolitical forces. It’s ineptitude bordering on criminal negligence.