FYI.. Saturday, 08 December 2012
Muted U.S. reaction to Mursi's power grab is dangerous: expert Al Arabiya The United States is walking down a dangerous slope with its muted reaction to Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi's latest decisions to put himself above the law, a prominent political observer has written. In a recent column on the Washington Post, Journalist and writer David R. Ignatius warned of "misplaced affection," recalling the strategic policy mistakes made in Iraq. "For a lesson in the dangers of falling in love with your client, look at Iraq: U.S. officials, starting with President George W. Bush and Gen. David Petraeus, kept lauding Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, despite warnings from many Iraqis that he was a conspiratorial politician who would end up siding with Iran," Ignatius wrote. "This misplaced affection continued into the Obama administration: Even after the Iraqi people in their wisdom voted in 2010 to dump Maliki, the United States helped him cobble together enough support to remain in power. Arab observers are still scratching their heads trying to understand that one." He explained that the Muslim Brotherhood were on a power trip after decades of ostracism, adding that President Mursi's recent decisions to assume sweeping powers was possibly encouraged by Washington's muted reactions. Ignatius wrote that the "Obama administration has been Mursi's main enabler," approaching the Islamist president in various economic and diplomatic initiatives. But he warned that the current U.S. policy towards the Muslim Brotherhood could backfire in a similar way the U.S. policy in Iraq backfired. Ignatius called on the United States to remain faithful the values of democracy. "America will help the Arab world through this turmoil if it states clearly that U.S. policy is guided by its interests and values, not by transient alliances and friendships." All rights reserved for Alarabiya.net © 2010 ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
