(Wall Street Journal) Bret Stephens - Soon after my arrival in Cairo, an Egyptian friend explained: "People are much more scared than they used to be, and it comes from the fact that there's no police." Much was made at the time of how the protests were a secular triumph in which the Muslim Brotherhood was left to the sidelines. But that judgment now looks in need of major revision. A package of constitutional amendments meant to pave the way toward parliamentary and presidential elections in just a few months time was approved with a whopping 77% of the vote. Yet early elections will only benefit well-organized and politically disciplined groups like the Brotherhood and the remnants of Mubarak's National Democratic Party, which is really the party of the Egyptian military. "The West seems to be convinced that the revolution was led by secular democratic forces," says my friend Mahmoud. "Now that myth is shattered. Which means that either the old order" - by which he means the military regime - "stays in power, or we're headed for Islamist dominance."
2011-03-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive