generalspeaking

Setting The Stage

The question that seems to loom fairly large now is whether civil war can be far behind what is now occurring in Egypt. Undeniably, this is what Syria is now experiencing, with the additional fillip to mordant chaos of an invading army of ravening al-Qaeda-inspired jihadists meeting head on with equally bloodthirsty and battle-hardened Hezbollah militias. In Egypt the contestants are home-grown; a powerful military which sees itself as the supreme caretaker of the country, opposed by a superbly organized Islamist group that has spread its tentacles throughout the Middle East.

Countries of the West, aghast at the depth of the civil disobedience that followed on the coup d'etat removing a "democratically elected" president of a country that has never practised democracy, have been busy calling in and dressing down Egypt's ambassadors and charge d'affaires diplomatic personnel to iterate, reiterate, plead, threaten, recommend, and insist that their government-in-waiting cease and desist. At the very least, hold back the military.

When it is the military that has taken the effective reigns of power with the promise to eventually relinquish them to civilian rule, when it has always been extremely difficult to distinguish where one ends and the other begins, it becomes increasingly clear that politicians in the West have never been able to learn much by observation of how politics works in the East. Two sides in any Eastern conflict have their own very different views; one must prevail, the other submit.

The West concedes, bargains, reaches eventual mutual agreement where 'sides' are or must be satisfied in a civil, workable arrangement to settle differences. This is a concept utterly foreign to the East where the 'winner' in any contest takes all; it is conquest or failure. The failed side takes up the position of inferiority; this is conflict resolution Eastern style; the winning side scoops up the spoils, whether it be treasure or the right-by-might to reign supreme.

Egypt's critics now call upon the interim government, or more precisely General Sisi, to set aside pride and entitlement and bargain in good faith with the Muslim Brotherhood to satisfy the demands of all stake-holders in the population of the country. Failing, in the process of their reasoning, to understand that for the Muslim Brotherhood, having finally attained all, and then having lost it, nothing will suffice them but a full recovery of the former position, with everyone else ancillary.

Far from being able to credibly "immediately sit down together , reconcile their differences and work tirelessly to halt this deadly standoff", the need is to ensure that the Muslim Brotherhood is fully and completely dis-entitled. Their agenda is one carefully constructed toward success. They have manipulated their followers, dependent on them for generations as reliable subsidizers of the poor and shepherds of their devoted souls, to agree to martyrdom for the greater cause.

That greater cause is the overpowering desire to be in control, to enact Sharia law in the strictest possible manner, leaving no one outside the confines of its social and religious constriction. In the process if numbers of the faithful perish, that is expected. It is the price to be paid for success; just as fascism and communism were ideologically prepared for huge human sacrifices to realize their ends, so too does Islamism stand prepared to use martyrdom to their advantage.

And if spontaneous reaction does not result in enough people slaughtered on behalf of their agenda, they will urge it along. Like their spawn, Hamas (Sunni) and Hezbollah (Shia), both terrorist groups in the eyes of the West, and respected 'liberators' from oppressive Israeli occupation and Western (U.S.) interference, the practise of using women and children as human shields, of firing off missiles from among crowded civilian enclaves to invite an enemy 'response' aimed to produce martyrs to manipulate Western opinion, the Brotherhood indulged similarly on this given occasion.

When security authorities urged sit-in protesters to leave their two large sit-in camps at opposite sides of Cairo, the Muslim Brotherhood urged their supporters to stand fast. Even when the security forces finally moved in on the 14th of August early in the morning to begin finally clearing out the month-old defiance, Brotherhood organizers took to loudspeakers to urge people to remain where they were, knowing full well what the outcome would be. Particularly since, to move things along even more expeditiously they had stationed armed 'resisters' to fire on police.

The answering fire from security personnel and riot police was anticipated and no doubt in its sad way, rewarding for the results. The more bodies that piled up devastating the protesters, the more many of them congratulated themselves for their dedication to martyrdom for their cause. And the more the outside world shrank in dismay and pleaded with the Egyptian military to stop. And the more the Muslim Brotherhood could rely on the international community to condemn their adversaries.

Mission accomplished. Up to that point, in any event. An estimated 628 dead, and likely more, and thousands wounded makes quite the odiously adverse impression. In all of this the plight of the Christian community within Egypt hasn't made much of an impression. Yet they are bearing the brunt of the Brotherhood-support rage over the imprisonment of Mohammed Morsi, and the ouster from power of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Canada's ambassador for religious freedom Andrew Bennett, at least addressed the situation: "We urge all parties to engage in a productive dialogue to ease tensions. We also call on all Egyptians to show maximum restraint and resolve in the coming days. We are concerned by recent attacks on religious institutions in Egypt, in particular the unconscionable attacks on Coptic Orthodox and Anglican churches and on Baptist and Franciscan institutions."

For they too are Egyptians in urgent need of compassion.

Labels: Chaos, Christianity, Conflict, Egypt, Islamism, Muslim Brotherhood

posted by Pieface @ Thursday, August 15, 2013