Egypt’s army crosses the Rubicon

Human Events ^ | August 16, 2013 | Patrick J. Buchanan

[2ndDivisionVet]

“Sire, clear the square with gunfire or abdicate.”

That was the message one of his generals gave the young czar Nicholas I in December of 1825, as thousands of civilians and soldiers massed in Senate Square to challenge his claim to the throne.

Nicholas gave the order, the cannons fired, and he and his heirs ruled Russia for another century, until Nicholas II was overthrown, and murdered by Bolsheviks.

Such was the moment Egypt’s army faced on Wednesday, with thousands of backers of the Muslim Brotherhood encamped in Cairo, challenging its rule. The slaughter that ensued, 500 dead the first day and thousands wounded, means there is no going back.

The die is cast. The Egyptian army has crossed the Rubicon.

Egypt’s generals cannot now hold elections that a coalition of the Brotherhood and Salafis might win. Were that to happen, many of them could wind up like the shah’s generals, on trays in the morgue.

So where does Egypt, and where do we go from here?

While we Americans are babbling about a new politics of “inclusiveness,” even some of the Twitter-Facebook liberals of Tahrir Square are coming to see Egypt as it is. Us or them.

And the one issue on which Egypt’s Muslim militants and Egypt’s militarists seem to agree is that the Americans cannot be trusted.....

[Olog-hai]

And the one issue on which Egypt’s Muslim militants and Egypt’s militarists seem to agree is that the Americans cannot be trusted …

I hate it when Buchanan says something right. Unfortunately for him, it does not make up for the wrong things he says.

[Hostage]

More and more of these commentaries coming out about the Egyptian military are out of context leaving readers misinformed; P. Buchanan is no exception.

To understand clearly what’s going on read the following short post:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3055872/posts

[BenLurkin]

Bump!

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

“Egypt’s army crosses the Rubicon”

What is Egypt’s army doing in Italy?

[kabar]

I don't find Buchanan's comments too far off the mark. Our strategic national interests require stability that can only be guaranteed by the military. An Egypt run by the MB hurts our long term interests.

It reminds of the situation in Iran during the 1978-79 period when the US advised the Shah not to use Savak to put down the Iranian revolution. Carter essentially eased the Shah out of Iran. We, the Iranian people, and the world would be far better off if the Shah had remained in power. Khomeini hijacked the Iranian Revolution and turned Iran into the world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism, which we are still dealing with and Iran is now on the verge of being a nuclear power.

The US made a mistake in Iran and now it is making a similar mistake in Egypt. The military understands its countrymen far better than we do. Any concession is deemed a weakness. As Buchanan points out, the military knows that if they don't subdue or destroy the political influence of the MB, they will be destroyed by them. This is a life and death struggle. There is no middle ground. There has to be a winner and a loser.

I recall vividly what Khomeini did to the opposition when he got in power. Every day there were pictures in the newspapers showing the corpses wrapped in plastic of former government officials and senior military officers who were sentenced to death and killed by the new regime.

The Egyptian military is still the most respected and least corrupt of the government institutions. We should let them work things out and withhold judgment while this struggle continues. No doubt, we are putting pressure on them to hold new elections as soon as possible and include the MB in the transition government. It would be a disaster because it would only be seen as a sign of weakness by the MB and their supporters. There was a reason why the MB was not able to engage in politics under Mubarak. The MB version of democracy is one man, one vote, one time.

[RoosterRedux]

What is Egypt’s army doing in Italy?

Crossing the Rubicon!;-)

Better than river rafting the Nile.

[RoosterRedux]

An Egypt run by the MB hurts our long term interests.

But Obama, the gay muslim, loves the MB. The Egyptian military has rained on Obama's parade...but maybe there will be a rainbow for Obama.

[SunkenCiv]

Rand Slams Congress for Funding Egypt’s Generals:
‘How Does Your Conscience Feel Now?’
Foreign Policy | 15 Aug 2013 | John Hudson
Posted on 08/15/2013 5:44:10 PM PDT by Hoodat
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3055253/posts

Sen. Rand Paul is hammering his fellow senators for keeping billions in financial aid flowing to Egypt’s military — even as Cairo’s security forces massacre anti-government activists.

[bert]

Like the leftist American tyrants, the radical islamist tyrants must be destroyed in sufficient numbers to swing the balance of power for decades.

The military and the secular moderates with the economic power must be ruthless in rooting out the enemy. There is no middle ground. The zealot Islamists purposely destroyed that sanctuary and now must live and die with the consequences.

The solution to the problem is the strong and continued application of overwhelming force.

[nathanbedford]

I hate it when Buchanan says something right. Unfortunately for him, it does not make up for the wrong things he says.

Let me respectfully presume to disagree. I cannot remember when Pat Buchanan put a foot down wrong. Yes, I am aware of the allegations concerning his anti-Semitism etc. but I think they mischaracterize the man.

Buchanan asks us discomforting questions, like what did we gain from World War II? Why are we supporting Israel?

These can be read as anti-Semitic or they can be read simply as contrarian points of view. Buchanan is a paleo conservatives but that does not mean he is an anti-Semite.

From the standpoint of 20 years since he ran for president and made that wonderful speech to the Republican convention which caused such thin lipped smiles among the Republican elites, Buchanan has been proved right on immigration, right on trade, right on our economic policies, and right on his assessments of demographic trends.

Incidentally, he was right on George HW Bush and he was right on George W Bush.

[Olog-hai]

No; the views on Israel are definitely antisemitic and anything but “contrarian”. Buchanan’s views are absolutely not paleoconservative nor are they Christian.

As for WWII, we had Japan attack us and Germany declare war on us. There was no backing out of that. The declarations at Yalta were not fulfilled, mostly thanks to the resurgence of liberalism in DC and Westminster at the time.

[Flag_This]

"Egypt’s Muslim militants and Egypt’s militarists seem to agree is that the Americans democrat administrations cannot be trusted....."

Seems like every democrat administration stabs somebody in the back.

[Olog-hai]

The Dems seem on a roll, but when those chickens come home to roost, they’ll actually be cockatrices.