Egypt: The Decline Of U.S. Influence?

What Leverage Will The US Have In Post-Mubarak Egypt?



Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, made her first visit to Egypt since the first democratically elected president was inaugurated.

Clinton has met with the two central players in the power struggle playing out in Egypt.

On Saturday, she held her first meeting with President Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist who emerged from the country's long-oppressed Muslim Brotherhood movement.

On Sunday, she met with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who as the head of the Military Council has ruled Egypt for the last 16 months.

But the transition to civilian rule has not been smooth. The military has retained overwhelming powers for itself, including legislative power and control of the writing of a new constitution.

The US faces many difficulties when it comes to dealing with a post-Mubarak Egypt - not least its attempt to wield its influence amid the competing political power struggles. And making sure that Egypt respects its international agreements, especially its treaty with Israel.

Eager to be seen as a champion of democracy and human rights, the US has criticised Egypt's military as it grabs more power. And it has offered words of support for the Muslim Brotherhood, making those uncomfortable who are sceptical of the Brotherhood's intentions.

The discomfort manifested itself in protests at the weekend. On Sunday, some threw tomatoes, water bottles and shoes at Clinton's motorcade as she left a ceremony marking the opening of a new US consulate in Alexandria.

At a news conference in Cairo, Clinton was asked if she regretted America's past support for Hosni Mubarak.

She answered: "We worked with the government of the country at the time. We work with governments around the world, we agree with some of them, we disagree with others of them. We were consistent in promoting human rights and speaking out for an end to the emergency war, an end to political prisoners being detained so I think you have to put this in context."

Clinton also made clear that she wants the Egyptian army to withdraw from politics.

"The United States supports the full transition to civilian rule with all that entails and we have commended the SCAF for representing the Egyptian people in the revolution, as compared to what we are seeing in Syria, which is the military murdering their own people. The SCAF here protected the Egyptian nation and we commend them for overseeing a free, fair election process. But there is more work ahead," said the US secretary of state.
So, what influence does the US have in a post-Mubarak Egypt?

"Unfortunately, the United States' administration, for the past 60 years, has been supporting dictatorship(s) in the Arab and Muslim world. From what they saw happening in the Arab Spring, I think the people in the Arab world have spoken and the United States' administration has to listen to the voices of the people and they have no other option but to support democracy in Egypt as well as in the Arab world."

Abdulmawgoud Dardery, an MP who represents Luxor for the Freedom and Justice Party

US Influence In The Arab World

American Conservative Pat Buchanan Weighs In On The Future Of US Involvement In The Arab World.

By Riz Khan
Last Modified: 08 Mar 2011 13:51 GMT
Courtesy Of "Al-Jazeera"



Former adviser to three US presidents and well-known American conservative commentator Pat Buchanan gives us his perspective on how the US is handling the pro-democracy protests in the Arab world.

Critics say Washington lost credibility when it showed its inability - or unwillingness - to fully rally behind demonstrations for political reform in the region. The US has supported unelected leaders in the Middle East and North Africa for decades, and was slow to react when the protests erupted.

Now many of those rulers are facing a growing public demand for political change after two of them - Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt - were forced to step down in the face of pro-democracy uprisings.

But US government officials argue that Barack Obama had to respond carefully in order to avoid inflaming passions. They point to his swift condemnation of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's crackdown on anti-government protesters as evidence that the US is fully committed to political reform in the Arab world.

On Tuesday's show we ask: What is the future of US involvement in that region?

Can Canada Be Trusted?

Secret Pentagon e-mails: Trust Canada? 'Who knows'

Secret e-mails: Trust Canada in spy-coins caper? 'Who knows,' wrote top Pentagon spy-catcher

By TED BRIDIS
AP News
Dec 03, 2009 14:48 EST
Courtesy Of Anti-War News

In the midst of what turned out to be a bogus espionage scare over commemorative coins, senior Pentagon officials speculated whether Canadians — widely considered to be among America's closest allies — might be "bad guys" involved in the spy caper. "Who knows?" one official wrote in secret e-mails obtained this week by The Associated Press.

The espionage warnings from the Defense Department caused an international sensation a few years ago over reports of mysterious coins with radio frequency transmitters, until they were debunked. The culprit turned out to be commemorative "poppy" quarters with a bright red flower manufactured in Canada.

But at the height of the mystery, senior Pentagon officials speculated about Canada's involvement, according to e-mails marked "Secret/NoForn" and obtained by the AP under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. The messages reflect the no-holds-barred attitudes over an inherent lack of trust within U.S. spy agencies.

"I don't think it is an issue of the Canadians being the bad guys," the Pentagon's counterintelligence chief wrote, "but then again, who knows."

In the e-mails, released to the AP with names blacked out but job titles disclosed, Pentagon officials question whether they should warn military officers in the U.S. Northern Command, who regularly met Canadian counterparts about classified subjects inside bug-proof, government meeting rooms. The rooms are known as secure compartmentalized information facilities, or SKIFs.

"Isn't the Canadian piece something that should be briefed to Northcom since the Canadians sit in their SKIFs?" asked the Pentagon's deputy director for counterintelligence oversight.

"Good point," replied the Pentagon's acting director for counterintelligence. "It is possible that DSS (the U.S. Defense Security Service) sent their report to Northcom. Then again, I don't think it is an issue of the Canadians being the bad guys, but then again, who knows."

Who knows?

Canada is among the closest of U.S. allies, its continental northern neighbor and the leading oil supplier for the U.S. The intelligence services of the two countries are extraordinarily tight and routinely share sensitive secrets. President Barack Obama chose Canada as the destination of his first foreign trip, to underscore what he described as the two countries' long-standing and growing friendship.

"I love this country and think that we could not have a better friend and ally," said Obama, whose brother-in-law is Canadian, during his February visit to Ottawa.

The State Department, with tongue in cheek, reiterated Thursday that the U.S. trusts Canada.

"From the State Department's point of view, Canada is a trustworthy ally," spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. "I'd refer you to the Pentagon for anything else."

In sensational warnings that circulated publicly in late 2006 and early 2007, the Pentagon's Defense Security Service said coins with radio transmitters were found planted on U.S. Army contractors with classified security clearances on at least three occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors traveled through Canada.

In January 2007, the government abruptly reversed itself and said the warnings weren't true. But the case remained a mystery until months later, when AP learned that the flap had been caused by suspicions over the odd-looking Canadian "poppy" quarter with a bright red flower. The silver-colored 25-cent piece features the red image of a poppy — Canada's flower of war remembrance — inlaid on a maple leaf.

What suspicious contractors believed to be "nanotechnology" on the coins actually was a protective coating the Royal Canadian Mint applied to prevent the poppy's red color from rubbing off. The mint produced nearly 30 million such quarters in 2004 commemorating Canada's 117,000 war dead.

The Pentagon turned over the latest e-mails from inside its Office of the Undersecretary for Defense for Intelligence nearly two years after the AP requested them under the Freedom of Information Act. Many of the e-mails were censored over what the Pentagon said was national security and personal privacy.

Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan declined to identify the names of the Defense Department officials who held those job titles in early 2007 and invited the AP to file a lawsuit to uncover their identities. "We're not going to be complicit in providing information that is protected," Lapan said in a statement.

One e-mail included a curious message on the same day the Defense Security Service publicly disavowed its warning about the spy coins. "I am guessing y'all know the status of the Canadian coin situation," it read. It called for an internal meeting "to chat about the next step to put Humpty together again" and suggested notifying the media — and the Canadians.

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On the Net:

E-mails: http://wid.ap.org/documents/canada_northcom.pdf

Source: AP News