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In Egypt, the U.S. Should Hold Its Nose and Back the Military

(Wall Street Journal) Bret Stephens - A policy is a set of pragmatic choices between unpalatable alternatives designed to achieve the most desirable realistic result. Restoring the dictatorship-in-the-making that was Morsi's elected government is neither desirable nor realistic. Bringing the Brotherhood into some kind of inclusive coalition government in which it accepts a reduced political role in exchange for calling off its sit-ins and demonstrations is not realistic. What is realistic and desirable is for the military to succeed in its confrontation with the Brotherhood as quickly and convincingly as possible. And it beats the alternatives of outright civil war or victory by a vengeful Muslim Brotherhood. Politics in Egypt today is a zero-sum game: Either the military wins, or the Brotherhood does. If the U.S. wants influence, it needs to hold its nose and take a side.
2013-08-20 00:00:00
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