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Washington and Cairo - America's Bitter Awakening

(Jerusalem Post) Zvi Mazel - Since Egypt made peace with Israel in 1979, it has received $70 billion from the U.S. in military and civilian grants. Yet it took only one week of violent street demonstrations in Cairo for America to abandon its ally of 43 years and for President Barack Obama to tell Mubarak to go. He probably thought that freed of the chains of dictatorship, a new regime would turn to democracy and strengthen its ties with America. Yet there was an outpouring of hatred towards the U.S.; worse, extremist Islamic parties won 75% of the seats of the new parliament. The Muslim Brotherhood defeated democracy by a knock-out. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) now ruling Egypt has apparently concluded that it is a sound political move to channel the frustration of the increasingly disillusioned masses against the hated Americans. Both the Muslim Brothers and the Salafists, who view American democracy as their most dangerous enemy, support them. The Muslim Brothers see in democratic America a major stumbling block on the road to setting up an Islamic regime in Egypt and doing away with the peace treaty with Israel. The writer is a former ambassador to Egypt and a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
2012-02-29 00:00:00
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