The latest news out of Egypt is troubling and creating conflict in the minds of Americans and others around the world. Egypt was part of the so-called "Arab Spring" in 2011 where the people rose up in country after country along the north African coast and Middle East, deposing their despotic governments in the hopes of creating a new dawn of democracy and freedom. Egypt seemed to be the model of success. After weeks of largely peaceful protests, the military ousted Mubarek and took over the country. They helped provide stability while a new constitution was forged and elections held.
The problem is that the majority of voters selected Morsi, a member of the infamous Muslim Brotherhood (an organization about which most Americans believe many things which are mostly untrue). Despite misgivings, Egypt forged ahead...
... for 1 year. During that time, Morsi behaved like a kid in a candy store, imposing rather harsh rule and putting his religious buddies in charge of key positions within the government. The people revolted once again, and once again the military ousted the president. This time, however, they removed a democratically-elected president favored by a slim majority of the people, most of whom tend towards the angry and emotional, some of whom are al-Qaeda operatives, ready for a fight. This could rationally be called a "military coup", although the U.S. is loathe to call it that.
Continue reading...
38 comments )
