February 1, 2012

The New Egypt: Bankrupt and Sinking Fast

By Rob Miller
All hail the wondrous Arab Spring! It is one year ago today that the protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square began, ending in the fall of the Mubarak regime.  It was fitting that President Obama mentioned it at the State of the Union, since he had a major role in that "wave of change," calling for Mubarak's ouster and signaling to the Egyptian military who now control the country which way to turn.  It's well worth examining how things are going. The parliamentary elections have been held, and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and the hardcore Salafist al-Nour Party won -- surprise! -- over 75% of the seats.  The Facebook and Twitter liberals in places like Cairo and Alexandria -- the people whom everyone in the West was so in love with -- proved to be a negligible political force, and Egypt is likely headed towards an Islamic Republic as soon as the proper arrangements are made with the Army. The Army originally had ideas of a government that had little civilian control over...(Read Full Article)