This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
America Has Long Supported Egypt's Dictatorial Leadership
As I wrote Tuesday:
Egypt’s president Mubarak is a yes-man
to the U.S., and the fall of the Tunisian and now Egyptian leaders are
really the ouster of U.S. puppet regimes in the Middle East.
Indeed, Egypt was for many years the second-biggest recipient of American aid in the Middle East, behind Israel). As leading military publication Janes notes:
Egypt
is reliant on US military aid to finance major equipment and this is
worth just over 25 per cent of the total defence spend in 2008, US
Foreign Military Financing (FMF) is fixed at USD1.3 billion annually.
America has also long provided training to Egypt's army. See this and this.
And as Free Press notes, American companies have helped to maintain Egyptian leaders' dictatorial powers:
An
American company — Boeing-owned Narus of Sunnyvale, CA — has sold
Egypt "Deep Packet Inspection" (DPI) equipment that can be used to help
the regime track, target and crush political dissent over the Internet
and mobile phones.
The power to control the Internet and the
resulting harm to democracy are so disturbing that the threshold for
using DPI must be very high. That’s why, before DPI becomes more widely
used around the world and at home, the U.S. government must establish
clear and legitimate criteria for preventing the use of such
surveillance and control technology.
In addition, Egypt has long tortured prisoners, and the U.S. used extraordinary rendition to fly prisoners to Egypt to be tortured. As Wikipedia notes:
In a New Yorker
interview with CIA veteran Michael Scheuer, an author of the rendition
program under the Clinton administration, writer Jane Mayer noted, "In
1995, American agents proposed the rendition program to Egypt, making
clear that it had the resources to track, capture, and transport
terrorist suspects globally — including access to a small fleet of
aircraft. Egypt embraced the idea... 'What was clever was that some of
the senior people in Al Qaeda were Egyptian,' Scheuer said. 'It served
American purposes to get these people arrested, and Egyptian purposes to
get these people back, where they could be interrogated.' Technically,
U.S. law requires the CIA to seek 'assurances' from foreign
governments that rendered suspects won’t be tortured. Scheuer told me
that this was done, but he was 'not sure' if any documents confirming
the arrangement were signed."[30] However, Scheuer testified before Congress that no such assurances were received.[31] He further acknowledged that treatment of prisoners may not have been "up to U.S. standards." However, he stated,
- This
is a matter of no concern as the Rendition Program’s goal was to
protect America, and the rendered fighters delivered to Middle Eastern
governments are now either dead or in places from which they cannot
harm America. Mission accomplished, as the saying goes.[32]Thereafter,
with the approval of President Clinton and a presidential directive
(PDD 39), the CIA instead elected to send suspects to Egypt, where they
were turned over to the Egyptian Mukhabarat [Egypt's intelligence
service].
And the statement of CNBC's Erin Burnett to the effect that the U.S. must support Middle Eastern dictators to keep cheap oil flowing doesn't really help.
Make no mistake ... a revolution in Egypt is a refutation of American policy.
And see this.
- advertisements -
Iz Israel next?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/828...
So....the US brought this Egyptian to a 'democracy camp', protected his identity, but he took his notes and congressional meeting schedule with him into Cairo?!
The Brits can't even write decent propaganda anymore; so sad. Maybe they should go work on some 'yellowcake' documentation or something.
GW: and another thing:
O visited Cairo:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_889oBKkNU
Video and Text: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/04/obama-egypt-speech-video_n_2112...
gotta wonder what other messages, winks, nods, assurances?
- April Glaspie selling out Kuwait? (sin of ???)
- Dean Acheson selling out ROK? (sin of omission[?] always a question).
- Diem? e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umrp1tIBY8Q (cher always a babe).
just wondering, because the scope of this protest means that more than instant twitter is involved in having huge crowds of normal (pretty much poor) people converge and do the "man vs. armored vehicle" game. Think of what it takes to converge a huge amorphous crowd. Water, waste, discipline to avoid wrong damage (e.g. not LA Watts). Then stand up to armor, crowd control vehicles, etc.
Notice the Chicago '68 tactics of 'putting on the show' in front of the international cameras. Several of the TLA network correspondents have mentioned that they will be provided with video when the internet is restored.
{cynical bastard that I am, I'm sure that this is the time to 'refine' the take to place the 'relevant' scenes out there for TLA network consumption} cf. the Israeli-Hezb'allah fiasco post-mortem reports.
I hate man vs. tank (for the record).
- Ned
This is a comment on the Egyptian situation carried by CNN:
"They all want the same," said Emile Hokayem, with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the Middle East. "They're all protesting about growing inequalities, they're all protesting against growing nepotism. The top of the pyramid was getting richer and richer."
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/27/arab.world.protests/index...
The accepted measure of income inequality is the gini coefficient.
A gini coefficient of "0" indicates every person in that state has the same income.
A gini coefficient of "1" indicates one person in that state has all of the income and the rest of the population have no income.
The CNN comment implies that the Egyptions are protesting increasing income inequality.
According to the CIA World Factbook the gini coefficient for Egypt is 34.4.
The gini coefficient for the USA is 45. The USA has greater income inequality than what the Egyptian people are protesting against. Note that these figures are from 2007. I would expect that income inequality in the USA has increased significantly since that time. By way of comparison the EU gini is 31.
c'mon sushi! if 1 is the most extreme, then 34.4 would be MORE extreme than 45.
we have food stamps!
No, but wait, sushi meant the other one...1 is only most extreme vs. 0!
Does this mean we can soon expect Air Force One on the tarmac fueled for Indonesia with the entire supply of Ft Knox in BOs pocket?
Interesting post. Did not know this info. existed. Thank you much. Milestones
Thank you for putting this info up. Milestones
Milestones - are you sleeping on the space bar?
One more Cairo speech should just about do it.
evil minds think alike--see below ;-)
LOL...how bout that.
I was over on the big board, trying to figger sumpin out.
You do realize I can't stomach the man in order to watch it though ;-)
while I would love to sleep with erin, the assumption being she's have to wear a gag.
hello since carter we have ignored getting off the oil stuff. japan does a good job with being energy efficient, germany, etc. our oil problems are mainly of our own making because of a short sighted industrial policy run for the good of corporations (short term pay for ceo's) instead of the country.
I just saw a video frm John (that comdey guy) stewart where he showed every president since nixon talking about getting off foreign oil. LOL when are we going to learn, when are we going to start to govern for the benefit of the country and not out corporate interests.
every enemy we have in the world we created right now.
Yup, I'm betting the $1.5B/year in bribes for Mubarak et al doesn't get counted in the cost of oil when we do the comparison of energy sources.
Solar: the energy source you don't need an army to keep using.
Even now, there is little talk of conservation, and serious fuel efficiency standards continue to be put off into the future. Those who think that the greens and the environmentalists have any power compared to energy corporations need to think again.
A lot of that will change once the price of gasoline goes above $8/gal!
SUV planters, anyone?
Even paranoids have real enemies--I'm wondering how much this technology's surveillance capabilities are being used domestically? (...er... well, here?)
- Ned
by deeznutz
on Fri, 01/28/2011 - 18:09
#914828
There is Narus equipment in Room 641A: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/america-has-long-supported-egypts-dicta...
I would think it has been tested, thoroughly.
RT @BreakingNews 3 private jets leave Cairo airport under heavy security; #Egypt parliament speaker to make major announcement - NBC #Jan25
I wonder if the puppet has left the scene? Curious that the militay leader of Egypt just left the US heading back...
Was he licking his chops/drooling?
Israel's Channel 10 claims Mubarak fled to Switzerland with a private jet (IsraelCh10 is the source) #Jan25 #Jan28 #Egypt #Mubarak #Israel
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8289686/Egypt-protests-Americas-secret-backing-for-rebel-leaders-behind-uprising.html
Of course they want contacts to steer the revolt back onto the plantation.
Of course, they could be saying this now to discredit the rebel leaders and thus deflate the uprising.
Then we must be conspiring with Iran. They are also backing the revolution.
Sort of looks like the US is playing both sides and wanting to come out with the winner. It would be a disaster to be seen backing the loser in this. Not that our foreign policy in the mideast is any but a disaster anyway.
the only sides are "us" & "them" - rather like the bankers "playing" both sides of wars. . .
Diem had good cops and bad cops working him too. Eventually the bad cops had their day.
The US government through misguided “foreign assistance” is the MAJOR reason the nascent democracy in Nepal cannot come to power. We give something like $78 Million in military aid to buy off a bunch of crooked generals and pols. We were the ones who kept the mal-functional monarchy in power until their bloody demise and have shifted to manipulating the country’s internal politics.
All the more reason to cut the entire foreign-aid largesse from the US Govt. budget!
"foreign aid" is just stealth military-lite to prop up whatever is "useful" to those who pull the strings - depending on how much research/homework you've done, insert fave "villian" for puppetmaster. . .
all foreign aid is targeted towards agenda.
Whoa . . . "Narus of Sunnyvale, CA — has sold Egypt "Deep Packet Inspection" (DPI) equipment that can be used to help the regime track, target and crush political dissent over the Internet and mobile phones.
The power to control the Internet and the resulting harm to democracy are so disturbing that the threshold for using DPI must be very high. That’s why, before DPI becomes more widely used around the world and at home, the U.S. government must establish clear and legitimate criteria for preventing the use of such surveillance and control technology."
Does not bode well for dissent in America. Damn.
The "dangers of DPI" are being way overhyped here. Filtering for a MAC address, big whoop. Anyone worried about this can buy a $10 USB wifi adapter with cash and their MAC address won't be traced back to them.
Or run Linux and set it to whatever they please.
There is Narus equipment in Room 641A: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A
GW completely agree with your presentation--it has been long overdue as the controlling imperilism has now lost both balls--soon it will be the rest of the body .I am more than ready when it hits these shores.
Well?
Probably not the kind they were hoping for.
dup
not sure anythings turning out as planned
Is this the beginning of the domino effect that Bush expected from installing democracy in Iraq?
:-)
Ouch! My wife and I were just talking this morning how Erin's a loose cannon at times and she probably has a buzzer in her seat that the producer can hit when she needs to stfu. Apparently, her handler was asleep at the switch this time. This is the mother of all foot-in-mouth events - but so true, nonetheless, unfortunately.
I'm sure she's told what to say or she wouldn't be there on the boob-tube.
deleted double post
Of course we would prefer a moderate secular dictator over a radical islamist. But the Egyptians are hardly overthrowing American oppressors. As per usual, your article reeks an olbermanesque stench.
AR15AU:
i think yer sights are dialed in nicely to drop a 5.56 home @ 350m.
don't get me wrong, i don't think the folks in egypt are pro-US, but we may be "benefitting" from the confrontation and the "change", if there is one, too.
there is one trophy "asset" involved here, eh?
and it doesn't have 4 sides and a pointy top.
Re. an olbermanesque stench.
And you AR15 have got the Zino-stink. You're little ethnic cleansing / America looting party is drawing to a close. Then what are you going to do? I suggest you look for your lost humanity.
BTW - who's olberman?