SODOM & GOMORRAH: The Arab Spring has sprung, but it seems that the United States suffers from severe allergies. Conditions in Egypt aren’t as joyful as previously anticipated. The empire is peeved.
The Muslim Brotherhood continues to make advances in the new Egyptian democracy. There’s nothing particularly shocking about this; a majority of Egyptians are Muslim and democracy wouldn’t be genuine if the new government didn’t reflect the will of the majority. In addition to violence against Coptic Christian minorities, the Egyptian government has quite recently decided to prosecute 43 pro-democracy activists, 19 of which are Americans. It would seem that, in addition to being Muslim, a majority of Egyptians are also probably anti-democratic.
The accused are said to have stirred up trouble in Egypt by funding non-governmental organizations. The US State Department has spoken out against the decision to prosecute and three American Senators (John McMcain, Kelly Ayotte, and Joe Lieberman) have said that the Egyptian government has needlessly raised tension to “advance a narrow political agenda.”
The Beltway currently provides Egypt with $1.3 billion in military aid and $250 million in economic assistance each year. The Senators have said that the bribes are in jeopardy if Egypt continues such actions. The Senators say that the group accused have “done nothing wrong” and that “Their only assignment is to support Egypt in its transition to democracy.”
Creepy words, coming from a country that previously has maintained that the Egyptian uprisings were spontaneous outbursts from a repressed public.
In December, Egyptian prosecutors raided offices of the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, which are front groups aligned with the Republican and Democratic parties respectively. The press say that the raids were attacks on free speech and attempts to silence ongoing protests.
An Egyptian delegation abruptly cancelled meetings with the American Senators shortly before they made their comments.