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Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/10/us-egypt-army-idUSBRE8390IV20120410
Shielding Egypt's Military from Political Change
(Reuters) Marwa Awad - Numbering at least 468,000 men, Egypt has the largest military force in the Arab world. More than half are conscripts. Senior military officers have dominated Egypt's politics and large chunks of its economy since seizing control in a 1952 coup. One of the keys to the military's power is its grip on business. Under Egypt's 1979 peace deal with Israel, the military had to shrink its forces. But instead of sacking hundreds of thousands of men, commanders opened factories to employ them. Those plants now produce everything from components for ammunition to pots and pans, fire extinguishers, and cutlery. The military also runs banks, tourism operations, farms, water treatment plants, a petrol station chain, construction firms, and import companies. Businesses owned solely by the military are exempt from tax, and often built on the backs of poorly paid conscripts, who make $17-28 a month. "A conscript goes into the army less for training, and more for working in one of the military factories or business schemes," said Ahmed Naggar, an economic analyst at the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. Senior military figures argue that Egypt's new constitution must shield the military from the instability of political change.