Generally, the Arab monarchies support the new Egyptian government. Elected Muslim governments, including Iran and Malaysia, are hostile. Indonesia, a secular government in a Muslim country, is supportive. What is curious is the hostility or ambivalence of mainstream news outlets and the stated opposition of most Western governments.
Attitudes towards the US are uniformly hostile, particularly to the US Ambassador who spoke in public on 30 June against the anti-Mursi demonstrations. That speech is cited often as the reason for hostility to the US by the Tamarrud members. Large posters of the Ambassador have her face X'ed out in red paint. The US government has limited influence with Tamarrud which believes the US propped up Mursi. The ambassador should be considered not safe in Cairo.
25truthsabout the caseEvoMorales/EdwardSnowden: Caseshows thatthe European Unionis apolitical and diplomaticdeception, alwayssubservientto the demandsofWashington
Egypt:Mursi's speech. President Mursi delivered a televised speech late on 2 July in which he said he will complete his four year term of office. He mentioned the word democracy 20 times and legitimacy 57 times in the 37 paragraphs of the 40-minute speech
In the first 7 paragraphs Mursi reviewed the events that led to his election, stressing the word democracy.
In paragraph 8 he introduced the theme that democracy and the constitution approved last December are the bases of his legitimacy.
In 9 to 16 he accused Mubarak supporters of wanting to reverse the revolution; warned the youth to not be deceived and stressed that he was elected in free elections and his burdens are heavy.
In paragraph 17 he urged all Egyptians to avoid harming the Egyptian Army.
In 18 he stated that there is no alternative to legitimacy. He welcomed dialogue with peaceful opposition members who respect legitimacy but said he must act against those who threatened violence.
The most important paragraphs,18-22, have received no coverage in mainstream press.In these Mursi admitted that he had been informed by a mediator about an initiative to change the government, with the full knowledge of the Prime Minister and the Armed Forces command a few days ago. Paragraph 21 stipulates that this initiative involved holding new elections in six months, forming a national coalition, formation of a national reconciliation committee, development of a media code of conduct.
Egypt:The Armyvs.the President. After two days of huge anti-government demonstrations, the Minister of Defense on behalf of the armed forces issued an ultimatum to President Mursi and the opposition to settle the unrest in 48 hours. The statement is reported in full English translation so that Readers may appreciate the entire context. Emphasis added by NightWatch.
“In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate”
“Statement from the General Command of the Armed Forces”
“The Egyptian arena and the whole world witnessed yesterday protests and rallies by the great Egyptian people to express their opinion and will in an unprecedented peaceful and civilized way.”
“All people saw the Egyptian people's movement and heard their voice with the utmost degree of respect and attention. It is inevitable that people will receive a reply to their movement and call from every party that should bear a part of responsibility amid these dangerous circumstances that surround the nation.”
“The Egyptian Armed Forces, as a main party to the future equation, and out of their national and historical responsibility for protecting the nation's security and safety, stress the following:
Obama is Sending Arms to These Utterly Vicious Thugs and Murderers: Your Tax Dollars at Work
“Two Christians, one of them a priest, have been beheaded by militants because they were suspected of cooperating with the Syrian military, according to an Al-Alam report. A video uploaded to the internet yesterday shows two men with their hands bound, surrounded by dozens of people, many of them armed and cheering in celebration. The two are brutally executed – beheaded with a small combat knife. Echoing previous beheading recorded by insurgents, the head is held up to the cheers of onlookers and then placed on the body.”
I forced myself to watch the video of this atrocity done by these cruel bastards. In the second instance, the killer had to be handed a second knife to finish the job. These idiots appear unable to keep the knives sharp, much prolonging the pain and misery of their victims.
Article and Link to Video of Beheadings – CAUTION – Very Disturbing Imagery:
Libya: This week the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai published a Libyan intelligence report of the results of its interrogation of terrorists connected to the Benghazi attack in which a US Ambassador was murdered. According to the report, the Egyptian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mursi were involved in the plot to attack the US facility.
Comment:Al Rai is a mainstream legitimate news outlet in Kuwait. It published what purports to be the entire document in its original Arabic. Other Arab newspapers picked up the report before it reached English language news services.
The information, assuming the entire document is not a fake, is based on admissions or confessions obtained under Libyan intelligence interrogation. Therefore its credibility is doubtful. The linkage to Mursi is almost certainly a lie obtained under torture. What is significant is that multiple Arab news outlets thought it worth repeating.
Syria: Yesterday, the official news agency, al Manar, reported that government forces had captured Tal Kalakh near the northern border of Lebanon, after several days of “fierce clashes.” It was a key node for rebel arms smuggling.
Comment: Actually the Syrian army took control of the town over the weekend. Patrick Cockburn visited Tal Kalakh this week to investigate the government claims. He reported his interviews and findings in The Independent today. They are instructive. The rebels and town leaders cut a deal with the Syrian army leaders. The terms of the deal were not disclosed but shops have opened and residents expect no more fighting.
A local Free Syrian Army (FSA) commander said he and his men changed sides because they were disillusioned. A Syrian army officer said the town cut a deal because its leading men wanted to avoid its total destruction as occurred at al Qusayr. The 300-400 FSA men fled to Lebanon or merged back into the population.
Cockburn makes several significant points based on his conversations that are insightful about the nature of the fighting. First is the revelation that many local deals are being brokered or negotiated in many towns to prevent their destruction. Second, the deals are a consequence of the destruction of al Qusayr. Third, the deals are easier when Syrians are talking to Syrians. As a result, the Syrian residents move away from neighborhoods occupied by foreign fighters.
Cockburn judges that the local cease fire agreements are holding and will be critical to ending the violence.
His observations and those of his sources explain the sputtering pace of the fighting and add insight into the government's description of the rebels. The government's negotiating progress falls under or outside the reporting threshold of the mainstream international news agencies. Syrians are more prone to cooperate with the Syrian government than with foreign fighters.
The most important point Cockburn makes is that the simplistic media depiction of Syria as two hostile camps divided by disparity of cult is an inadequate representation of a complex security problem, made much worse by outside interventions.
