The Ides of March

         Although there has been no shortage of depressing news with regards to politics in 2017, the release of the modern pharaoh  Hosni Mubarak on March 13 is some of the worst, in my view. Al Ahram put it better than I could have, noting 

"The former autocrat ruled Egypt from 1981 until a popular uprising ousted him on 11 February 2011."

In a somewhat incredulous statement, Mubarak's lawyer Farid al Deeb claims that his client owns no money or property outside of Egypt, and is now borrowing American President Donald Trump's phrase of "false news" in defense of his client. Meanwhile, amidst these denials, a Swiss bank states that they have frozen close to 500 million in Egyptian assets linked to the Mubarak family. 

          In 2012, relatively free elections ushered into power the Islamist leader, Mohammed Morsi’s administration, which was short lived as his leadership was deposed by General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in 2013.  Since then, the Sisi administration has drafted draconian laws that prevented illegal protests, which was a strategic law to prevent any dissenting views hence increased the number of political arrests. The police made more recent arrests of Muslim Brotherhood militia personnel who made several attacks on the police and army in Cairo through exchange of fire leading to the death of a civilian. In good news, the Egyptian Supreme Court has declared portions of the controversial protest law unconstitutional. 

            The New York Times piece on the prominent youth leader (Ahmed Maher) during the 2011 uprising, explains how Egyptian judges used draconian laws to find him guilty of illegal demonstration and ‘thuggery.'  Maher was sentenced to three years in the Tora Prison, which is a notorious complex housing political prisoners and criminals. Maher is still monitored closely by the police because the government views his influence over social media as "a terroristic threat". As a result, he spends 12 out of 24 hours of each day with the police to ensure that he is not inciting any dissenting views to topple the new administration as well. 

         France has been eyeing Egypt as a strategic partner in to become a major military force in the region. I thought Egypt was already a huge military force in the region. Egypt has long been an ally of USA and receives over a billion a year in military aid from the US.  

Indeed, the US provided $6.5 billion in military assistance to Cairo between 2011 and 2015.  As a result, President Trump is expected to visit Egypt from April 1 to 4 as a follow-up of their 23 January 2017 phone conversation to discuss ways to increase bi-lateral relations. Let's hope they do not trade notes on how to crush dissent . . . .

WMB 

Huge thanks to my wonderful graduate assistant Shem Ngwira in helping me put together this piece. 

West Pounds Libya with Air Strikes

The Libyan Uprising has now entered its fourth week.

A broad campaign of airstrikes is pounding the Libyan coast. US missiles are attempting to enforce a United Nations no fly zone to keep Qadaffi from crushing rebel forces. Apparently France, Britain and the US are working together to keep up a barrage against Qaddafi, however, US air power is dominating. Tomahawk missiles are being fired from American warships. French Mirage and Rafale fighter jets have also conducted strikes.

Overall, I support the decision of the United States to enforce the no fly zone. I appreciate the need to support the Libyan rebels. Qadaffi has had a history of being a great ally of African causes, but he lost my support completely when he fired on civilians. The war is causing a humanitarian crisis on the border of Egypt, as refugees flee the fighting and attempt to escape to safety.Qadaffi claims he is observing the UN mandated ceasefire, but rebels claim he has continued attacks against them unabated.

It is excellent that no military action began until the Arab nations agreed that a no-fly zone area should be enforced. This helps to avoid the perception that the West is unilaterally moving against the Arab world. The secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, is a likely candidate for the Egyptian Presidency, and he called for an enforcement of the no-fly zone. Many Arab leaders have called for Qadaffi to quit.

I am very dissapointed that the Saudi Arabians have chosen to send troops into Bahrain instead of sending troops in to support the Libyan rebels. Obviously, the Saudi government is one of the worst examples of an oppressive authoritarian regime in the region, so it is no surprise that they are reluctant to remove another autocrat.

March 20, 2011 11:19 p.m.
In a slightly confusing development, Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, has criticized the coalition strikes against targets in Western Libya. He claims that the intention was to protect civilians, not bomb civilians. Apparently, the Arab League had said there was no need for military intervention.


March 22, 2011 12:16 p.m.
According to Juan Cole, "Reports of Arab League backtracking on Sunday were incorrect, based on a remark of outgoing Secretary-General Amr Moussa that criticized the taking out of anti-aircraft batteries. The Arab League reaffirmed Sunday and Moussa agreed Monday that the No-Fly Zone is what it wants."






References
US Missiles Strike Libyan Air Defense Targets, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/world/africa/20libya.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=middleeast
West Pounds Libya with Air Strikes, Tomahawks, AlMasryalyoum
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/365381
Amr Moussa Criticizes Allied Bombing of Libya, AlMasryalyoum
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/366790
The Drawbacks of Intervention in Libya, AlJazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/03/201132093458329910.html
March 22, 2011 12:13 p.m.