Month: February 2011

Hillary Clinton is championing Egypt’s Torturer in Chief as new leader. I guess the Obama team is hellbent on further disgracing the United States in this ongoing clash.
Details here.

In his forthcoming new book, former war criminal secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that the war in Iraq has been worth the cost. If only we sent more troops to their death, says Rumsfeld, then it might have helped. Worth the cost for whom? Helped whom?

Was the debacle in Iraq worth it to the thousands of U.S. soldiers who died for a lie and in vain? Was it worth it to U.S. soldiers who suffer from mental and physical agony? Was it worth it to the families of dead American soldiers who still suffer from their loss? Was it worth it to the U.S. taxpayers? Was it worth it to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who would still be alive under Saddam Hussein? (yes, of course, Saddam was evil).

It might have been worth it to Bush so he could be a war president like FDR, Truman, Lincoln, and the rest. It might have been worth it to Rumsfeld so he could be famous and write this book. It might have worth it to military officers who moved up in the ranks and didn’t have to do any actual fighting. I don’t know who else would think the war was worth it.

from LobeLog: News and Views Relevant to U.S.-Iran relations for February 7th, 2011:

The Weekly Standard: The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Benjamin Weinthal blogs that U.S. senators “have reached a breaking point” with Germany’s “recalcitrant position about shutting down Iran’s main financial conduit in Europe—the Hambug-based European-Iranian Trade Bank (EIH).” Weinthal cites a letter signed by eleven senators which calls on the government of Germany to shut down the bank. Weinthal interprets the letter: “In short, the senators are charging the German government with being an accomplice to busting Iranian sanctions, and in connection with not stopping Iran’s drive to obtain nuclear weapons.”

The Weekly Standard: Weekly Standard senior editor and Hudson Institute visiting fellow Lee Smith opines on the Obama administration’s continued habit of “project[ing] weakness” in the Middle East. “It was the June 2009 uprising following the Iranian elections that first showed Obama’s mettle. While millions of Iranians took to the streets to demonstrate, the administration dithered for two weeks before taking a stand,” says Smith, offering an example of the administration’s “weakness and passivity.” Smith goes on to suggest that “every regional ally—from Jerusalem to Riyadh” told Obama that engaging Iran was a “fool’s errand” and denies the widely accepted concept of linkage. “[Obama] was a president who kept insisting on the centrality of an Arab-Israeli peace process that everyone else in the region understood was a nonstarter.”

The New York Times: Senior Foundation for Defense of Democracies fellow Reuel Marc Gerecht writes on “How Democracy Became Halal” and observes, “We have a chance in Egypt to be lucky. Democratization there, like democratization of Iran, could thwart the ideologies and fear that move poor countries to spend fortunes on nuclear weapons.”

from LobeLog: News and Views Relevant to U.S.-Iran relations for February 4th, 2011:

The Washington Post: Foundation for Defense of Democracies board member and Project for the New American Century letter signatory Charles Krauthammer opines on the unrest in Egypt and takes a swing at the possibility of Mohamed ElBaradei leading an interim government. “ElBaradei would be a disaster. As head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he did more than anyone to make an Iranian nuclear bomb possible, covering for the mullahs for years,” says Krauthammer. He goes on to characterize El Baradei as a “useful idiot” for the Muslim Brotherhood and concludes that the Egyptian military is the “best vehicle for guiding the country to free elections over the coming months.”

National Review Online: Foundation for Defense of Democracies President Clifford May writes, “When Iranians rose up against the tyrannical regime that has ruled them for more than 30 years — when they marched in the streets chanting, ‘Obama, are you with us or against us?’ — the president mostly held his tongue, reluctant to jeopardize his policy of ‘outreach’ to Iran’s rulers. Can Obama now be more supportive of Egyptians as they confront a regime that, while authoritarian, is nowhere near as oppressive and brutal as that in Tehran?” May argues for an Egyptian army officer to take control of Egypt and schedule elections. But he rejects that Mohamed ElBaradei should serve as interim president. “He was overly solicitous of Iran’s despots in his previous job, and he is overly solicitous of the Muslim Brotherhood now. What’s more, he is no friend of America,” he writes.

As the “Day of Departure” dawns in Cairo, many thousands are gathering in Tahrir Square, and the crowd swells by the minute. Rumors of secret negotiations behind the scenes, with various factions of the opposition trying to make a deal with Mubarak regime, amid news of a split in the Egyptian government, swirl around the Square. Excitement and a certain amount of fear pervade the air: excitement that this could be it, the tipping point that drives the dictator into exile, and fear that yesterday’s violence will return with a vengeance.

UPDATE: Ya Libnan reports:

“On Friday morning Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa was reported to be with protesters demanding the resignation of president Hosni Mubarak at Cairo’s Tahrir Square.”

From a BBC profile:

“The Arab League’s secretary-general may not be popular with Israel or the US, but Egyptians like him so much they literally sing his praises.

“Egypt’s former Foreign Minister Amr Moussa was appointed to the top position in May of [2001].

“Shortly before that, Egyptian crooner Shaaban Abdel Rahim released a hit song with the lyrics ‘I hate Israel and I love Amr Moussa.’  “The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs – produced by former US diplomats – described him as ‘no ordinary Egyptian Government official.’ It notes that he has frequently been cited as the civilian figure Egyptians would elect as president if they had a real choice.

“Time magazine described the 65-year-old as ‘perhaps the most adored public servant in the Arab world.'”

And it looks like he’s running for office ….

With the Obama administration trying to impose Mubarak-ism with Mubarak, easing the old lizard-headed dictator out and ushering in Omar Suleiman — recently appointed Vice President and formerly Egypt’s top intelligence official and torturer-in-chief —  there may be a slight glitch. Aside, that is, from the fact that the protest movement will never agree.

The glitch is that the Egyptian Constitution has very specific provisions for the permanent disability of a President. If Egypt’s chief executive is temporarily unable to fulfill his duties, but will eventually return to office, the constitution says the Vice President takes over. However, if, as in the case of Mubarak’s departure, a President is permanently out of office, for some reason, then the Speaker of the People’s Assembly takes over the top spot. Here are the relevant passage from the Constitution:

“In case of the vacancy of the Presidential office or the permanent disability of the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the People’s Assembly shall temporarily assume the Presidency. In case the People’s Assembly is dissolved at such a time the President of the Supreme Constitutional Court shall take over the Presidency on condition that neither one shall nominate himself for the Presidency.

“The People’s Assembly shall then proclaim the vacancy of the office of President .

“The President of the Republic shall be chosen within a maximum period of sixty days form the date of the vacancy of the Presidential office.”

By law, the transition period everyone is talking about must be no longer than 60 days — no waiting until September. Not that they’re sticklers for the law in Hosni Mubarak’s Egypt.

So who is the Speaker of the faux-Parliament known as the “People’s Assembly”? He’s one Ahmad Fathi Sorour, a ruling party hack who has held the position since 1998. If you go to his Facebook page, it reads:

“Ahmad Fathi Sorour (born 9 July 1932) is an Egyptian politician who has been the speaker of the People’s Assembly since 1991. Until January 29, 2011, when Hosni Mubnarak appointed Omar Suleiman as Vice President, he was the first in the line of succession to become President of Egypt if Mubarak died or became incapacitated.”

As we can see from the above-cited passages from the Egyptian Constitution, this interpretation is quite incorrect, but I guess Mr. Sorour thinks discretion is the better part of valor in this case. In any event, he wouldn’t want to stand between Egypt and the inauguration of a new era of “democracy” and respect for the rule of law.