THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 198, August 8, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
NEW EGYPT, NEW ERA?
Egypt's Military Holds onto POWER
By Dr. Daniel Pipes
EGYPT'S MILITARY PRE-EMPTING THE EGYPTIAN CONSTITUTION: HOW THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE EGYPTIAN
ARMED FORCES INTENDS TO HOLD ON TO ITS ABSOLUTE POWER IN EGYPT -- DECLARATION OF BASIC PRINCIPLES TO
GOVERN THE DRAFTING OF A CONSTITUTION -- THE ARMED FORCES' ROLE IN THE CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT TO BE SPELLED
OUT, POTENTIALLY SHIELDING THE DEFENSE BUDGET FROM PUBLIC OR PARLIAMENTARY SCRUTINY & PROTECTING THE
MILITARY'S VAST ECONOMIC INTERESTS -- THE MILITARY TO BE GRANTED BROAD AUTHORITY TO INTERVENE IN
EGYPTIAN POLITICS TO PROTECT NATIONAL UNITY OR THE SECULAR CHARACTER OF THE STATE -- AUTHORITARIAN
DICTATORSHIP TO WIN OUT OVER CONSTITUTIONALISM, CIVIL LIBERTIES, & REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY -- GOOD NEWS
FOR THOSE WORRIED ABOUT EMERGENCE OF AN ISLAMIST-DOMINATED GOVERNMENT -- BAD NEWS FOR THOSE SEEKING
ESTABLISHMENT OF AN EFFECTIVELY FUNCTIONING CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY AS THE GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM
OF EGYPT
FULL STORY:
Since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in February, 2011, it's been my contention that (1) this was a military coup d'état against
the prospect of Mubarak's son taking power and (2) the military brass intend to hold on to power. On the latter point, I wrote in
April, 2011:
"The soldiers have become far too accustomed to power
and the good life to give up these perks. They will do
whatever it takes, be it purging Mubarak, throwing his
sons in jail, banning his old political party, changing the
Constitution, or repressing dissent, to keep power."
An important article in the New York Times today, "Egypt Military Moves to Cement a Muscular Role in
Government" by David D. Kirkpatrick, explains just how the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces plans to keep its
power – by pre-empting the Constitution:
"After meeting of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed
Forces, the military announced Tuesday that it planned
to adopt a 'declaration of basic principles,' to govern the
drafting of a constitution. … it will spell out the Armed
Forces' role in the civilian government, potentially
shielding the defense budget from public or parliamentary
scrutiny and protecting the military's vast economic
interests. Proposals under consideration would give the
military a broad mandate to intercede in Egyptian politics
to protect national unity or the secular character of the
state. … Though the proposed declaration might protect
liberals from an Islamist-dominated constitution, it could
also limit democracy by shielding the military from full
civilian control."
For those of us worried about a potential Islamist domination, this is good news: "The announcement of the declaration
is a setback for the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group considered Egypt's best-organized and most formidable
political force. It was poised to win a major role in the new Parliament, and thus in the writing of the new constitution."
But for the liberals, it's bad news:
"Demonstrators have returned to Tahrir Square with
increasing frequency to voice their demands, culminating
in a weeklong sit-in rivaling the days of the revolution. …
The protests are increasingly taking aim at the military. On
Thursday, a coalition of 24 political groups and five
presidential contenders endorsed a call by the young
leaders of the protests for the military to cede more power
to a civilian government now rather than wait for elections.
The military leaders are sounding increasingly exasperated."
In other words, it's business as usual. All that huffing and puffing about a "New Egypt, New Era" really does not amount
to much. That said, I continue to be impressed by the Tahrir spirit and hope it will someday reach the corridors of power.
© Daniel Pipes 2011
Originally Published by the Daniel Pipes Organization, July 17, 2011
Republished with the Permission of Daniel Pipes
Reprinted from the Daniel Pipes Mailing List, August 7, 2011
URL: http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2011/07/egypt-military-holds-onto-power
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Egypt, Arabs, & the Middle East
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
North Africa -- The Arab States of Islamic North Africa
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Dr. Daniel Pipes, a Ph.D. in Islamic History (Harvard University, 1978), is Founder and President of the Middle East Forum,
Publisher of Middle East Quarterly,
Founder of Campus Watch, Taube Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, a
signatory of the Project for the New American Century, a former board member of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a former
adjunct scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Golden Circle supporter of the U.S. Committee for a Free
Lebanon, a former member of the U.S. Department of Defense Special Task Force on Terrorism and Technology, and a
former lecturer at the U.S. Naval War College, Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and the University of
Pennsylvania. Dr. Pipes was the Director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute from 1986 to 1993.
Author or co-author of eighteen books, Dr. Pipes is a regular columnist for National Review Online, Front Page
Magazine, the New York Sun, and the Jerusalem Post. His analyses of world trends and of forces and
developments in the Middle East have appeared in numerous North American newspapers, including the Washington
Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He frequently appears on American network
television, as well as at universities and think tanks, to discuss the Middle East, Islam, and the Islamist threat to the
U.S.A. and the West. He also has appeared on BBC and Al Jazeera, and has lectured in approximately
twenty-five countries.
Dr. Pipes is a Polish-American Jew whose parents fled Poland in 1939, immigrated to the U.S.A., and assimilated well into
American society and culture. His father is Richard Pipes, an American historian specializing in Russian and Soviet history
and serving as Professor of History at Harvard University from 1950 until his retirement in 1996. During the Cold War, the
worldview of Richard Pipes was strongly anti-Soviet and anti-Communist.
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity