Russian: The west's Egypt conundrum

Pravda

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The West has given up on its Egyptian ally
By Sergei Balmasov

The Western media refer to current events in Egypt as "revolution." On January 27, the Egyptian authorities acknowledged the inability of the police to handle the protests of the opposition. Elite divisions of the Egyptian army have not been able to improve the situation in the country. Over 150 have been killed and nearly 1,000 protesters have been arrested and jailed, but clashes with the police become only stronger.

Both Muslim and Christian Egyptians united in their protests against the regime of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. They make joint statements claiming that the Muslims and Christians of Egypt are struggling against corruption, unemployment, suppression and lack of freedoms. Liberals concluded an alliance with Islamists and leftist forces against Mubarak.

Hosni Mubarak is considered an ally of the United States. He openly supported the States in 1991 during the operation against Saddam Hussein: Mubarak sent a considerable military contingent against the brotherly Arab nation.

Nowadays, the actions of the Egyptian opposition find support in Europe and the United States. It seems that the West has given up on their Egyptian ally and urged him to conduct negotiations with the opposition.

Strange as it may seem, Western human rights activists have suddenly realized that Mubarak's prisons were no better than Nazi camps. It is only now that they realized that official Egyptian authorities violate human rights, suppress freedom of speech and block opposition websites and social networks. The EU urges the Egyptian authorities to exercise self-restraint, whereas the US media do not approach the events in the African country as their ally's struggle with Islamists.

Earlier, Mubarak tried to prove it to the West that he was standing against bearded daredevils, who would unleash the war against Israel and block the Suez Canal as soon as they came to power.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that the US administration would like to see reforms in Egypt.

"We are monitoring Egypt's military. They are demonstrating restraint, trying to differentiate between peaceful protestors - who we support - and potential looters and other criminal elements who are a danger to the Egyptian people," Clinton said. "There is no discussion of cutting off aid ... We are trying to convey a message that is clear - no violence, no provocation that results in violence, and that we want to see these reforms so that the people of Egypt can see their legitimate grievances addressed," she added.

It seems that the West does not believe that Mubarak will keep his presidency in Egypt. The country did not have an alternative to Mabarak before, but it seems that Mohamed ElBaradei has spoiled the game to the sitting Egyptian dictator.

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ElBaradei repeatedly stated that Mubarak was speculating on the subject of the danger of the Islamist opposition to suppress any kind of opposition in the country at all. ElBaradei, who supports the toppling of Mubarak, is very popular both among Egyptians and among Arabs in general. Serving as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during 1997-2009, he earned the reputation of an ardent opponent to the USA and the defender of Iraq and Iran.

The USA tried not to let ElBaradei be re-elected for the position of IAEA's head in 2005. US officials tried to portray him as a Muslim who sympathized with Iran, but they eventually had to tolerate his pro-Iranian views for four more years.

The USA was also trying to discredit ElBaradei's reputation. The CIA intercepted many of his talks with the Iranian administration, but the States failed to make a corrupt official out of Mohamed ElBaradei.

The US administration conceived a dislike for ElBaradei in 2002, when he refused to support Washington's version about Saddam Hussein's development of weapons of mass destruction. Afterwards, ElBaradei harshly criticized the Americans for their actions in Iraq for their crackdown on Iran, claiming that the Iranian nuclear program was posing no threat to the world.

The West does not have much to choose from. Choosing between the weak Mubarak and Egypt's Islamist opposition party Muslim Brotherhood, the West may place its stake on Mohamed ElBaradei. The American media have already stopped attacking ElBaradei, whereas European journalists often say that he is a real alternative to the sitting president

http://english.pravda.ru/world/africa/31-01-2011/116719-egypt-0/