posted July 10, 2013 07:10 PM            

Egypt escalates a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood.

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's military-backed government tightened a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday, ordering the arrest of its revered leader in a bid to choke off the group's campaign to reinstate President Mohammed Morsi one week after an army-led coup.

The Brotherhood denounced the warrants for the arrest of Mohammed Badie and nine other leading Islamists for inciting violence Monday that left dozens dead, saying "dictatorship is back" and vowing it will never work with the interim rulers.
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-escalates-crackdown-muslim-brotherhood-211805063.html

posted July 10, 2013 07:46 PM            

quote:

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US says immediate cutoff of aid to Egyptian military would hurt America's security interests
By MATTHEW LEE | Associated Press | Jul 8, 2013 4:28 PM CDT in Politics

The Obama administration signaled Monday that U.S. national security interests will trump its promotion of Egypt's budding democracy, stressing the importance of continued aid to the Egyptian military, which overthrew the elected president last week.

As violence blazed between security forces and supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, the White House and State Department both urged the military to exercise "maximum restraint." They also said the military would not be punished with a cutoff of its $1.3 billion in annual U.S. aid for toppling Morsi.

But if the American government makes a legal determination that the removal was done through a coup d'etat, U.S. law would require ending all non-humanitarian aid to Egypt, the vast majority of which goes to the military.

Administration officials said lawyers were still reviewing developments to make that ruling. However, the absence of a coup determination, coupled with the administration's refusal to condemn Morsi's ouster, sent an implicit message of U.S. approval to the military.

And officials said the White House had made clear in U.S. inter-agency discussions _ as recently as a Monday morning conference call _ that continued aid to Egypt's military was a priority for America's national security, Israel's safety and broader stability in the turbulent Middle East that should not be jeopardized.

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How are we safer by giving a billion dollars to Egypt's military?

posted July 11, 2013 10:03 AM            

Can we just stop democracy building? It gets us into a whole lot of trouble.

Iraq, Egypt and Libya already proved that when you get rid of a ruthless dictator, you create a vacuum, and subsequent to that would be chaos and anarchy. The will of the people will eventually be exercised, but without tremendous bloodshed. Who wins in such a scenario?

You don't need to attend, Kennedy/SAIS/Wilson/SIPA/Naval War College to understand that, and the State Department is staffed with lots of folks with such advanced degrees.

There is no positive outcome for meddling in another nation's affairs and "nation building" is a lost cause. That's a relic of W '43 and that was a mistake. Why repeat it?

You would think the US has learned from Iraq and Vietnam. The initial war was a stunning military victory, followed by a entire debacle and shameful loss thanks to the politicians trying to nation build and win over the people.

I sound like a jacka$$, and I'm probably one and I don't care. Primary mission is to protect the geo-strategic/economic interests of the US. And then get the F out. The cost in blood and dollars isn't worth it.

posted July 11, 2013 02:39 PM            

quote:

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Thursday introduced legislation that would cut off foreign aid to Egypt following last week’s military ousting of President Mohamed Morsi.

Paul has made several comments throughout the week insisting that the events in Egypt constitute a military coup and has criticized the Obama administration for its commitment to continue providing foreign aid to the country.

The United States is forbidden by law to give aid to countries where a military overthrow of a democratically elected government has occurred. The administration has maintained, however, that the events in Egypt do not constitute a coup.

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posted July 11, 2013 03:53 PM            

quote:

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The administration has maintained, however, that the events in Egypt do not constitute a coup.

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That confuses me. How is it not a coup? I don`t even know how to start tracking the reasoning down.

posted July 11, 2013 04:47 PM            

It's not a coup because they just told you it's not.

And if they say the world is flat, it's flat.

posted July 11, 2013 05:22 PM            

Kerry`s previous billions and now this. I like YTA`s post and I agree 100% all we are buying is a vacuum. Or an open door to more chaos and anarchy.

posted July 11, 2013 06:13 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by YoursTrulyAlways:
I just don't understand the whole strategy.

Can we just stop democracy building? It gets us into a whole lot of trouble.

Iraq, Egypt and Libya already proved that when you get rid of a ruthless dictator, you create a vacuum, and subsequent to that would be chaos and anarchy. The will of the people will eventually be exercised, but without tremendous bloodshed. Who wins in such a scenario?

You don't need to attend, Kennedy/SAIS/Wilson/SIPA/Naval War College to understand that, and the State Department is staffed with lots of folks with such advanced degrees.

There is no positive outcome for meddling in another nation's affairs and "nation building" is a lost cause. That's a relic of W '43 and that was a mistake. Why repeat it?

You would think the US has learned from Iraq and Vietnam. The initial war was a stunning military victory, followed by a entire debacle and shameful loss thanks to the politicians trying to nation build and win over the people.

I sound like a jacka$$, and I'm probably one and I don't care. Primary mission is to protect the geo-strategic/economic interests of the US. And then get the F out. The cost in blood and dollars isn't worth it.

The crude oil isn't even worth it anymore. There is much better product in the Bakken, Marcellus and Alberta.

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The only people still advocating for nation building are neocons who haven't been paying attention (with that qualifier added because some former neocons have shifted to a more historically conservative realpolitik stance in the past few years).

posted July 11, 2013 10:46 PM            

From my standpoint, it's just common sense. Stop fighting wars for the sake of "enhancing" the welfare of the world. War is nasty. Don't fight wars. But if you need to fight, then fight hard and furious and then stop. Wars stop when the enemy's appetite for war disappears. So deliver smart, targeted strategic solutions and stop this protracted democracy building nonsense. Too much blood is spilled and too much money is wasted.

posted July 12, 2013 07:47 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by YoursTrulyAlways:
Stop fighting wars for the sake of "enhancing" the welfare of the world. War is nasty. Don't fight wars. But if you need to fight, then fight hard and furious and then stop.

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The neocons, particularly those involved with the Project for the New American Century (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, Kagan, etc.)...these guys who got the ball rolling for an aggressive foreign policy...you know they were aiming for all-out global hegemony. Not to win a war but to "win" control of the planet, basically.

posted July 12, 2013 07:58 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by YoursTrulyAlways:
In the lead up to Sadaam part II, Sadaam said it best. The Iraqi people need a strong dictator in power. Otherwise, there would be chaos and anarchy. Sadaam said that the Iraqi people don't know how to govern themselves and can't play nice with each other. And he was absolutely right. And we got rid of him. Quadaffi said the same exact thing. And we got rid of him. And the same crap happened. What have we left? Rivaling factions, with a state of affairs worse than before. Hell, the Taliban are back to power in Kabul. Didn't we say Musharraf is a buddy and we should appease him? Look at the presumed political stability in Pakistan today. And most of the whack jobs are still in North Waziristan.

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Be compassionate. Nobody "needs" a dictator.

I think that if America just stopped meddling in the Middle East altogether they would be better off, and so would we, in turn. If radical Islam abroad is a threat in itself, well, the NSA has the tools to discern who is a threat and it can prevent them from coming here. It's the very least the NSA can do in return for destroying much of our privacy.

But people cling to religion more when times are bad, so keeping the Middle East under attack just strengthens their religious convictions which in turn exacerbates the tension between sects.

There's also some evidence that the US deliberately fomented radicalism not too long ago.

posted July 16, 2013 01:13 AM            

That was awesome!

posted July 16, 2013 02:37 PM            

He could be going off about Pokemon and football.