WHO LOST EGYPT? (Obama... And It Is Being Lost To Iran And The Muslim Brotherhood!)

Dick Morris ^

[nutmeg]

Excerpt from article by Dick Morris:

In the 1950s, the accusation “who lost China” resonated throughout American politics and led to the defeat of the Democratic Party in the presidential elections of 1952. Unless President Obama reverses field and strongly opposes letting the Muslim Brotherhood take over Egypt, he will be hit with the modern equivalent of the 1952 question: Who Lost Egypt?

The Iranian government is waiting for Egypt to fall into its lap. The Muslim Brotherhood, dominated by Iranian Islamic fundamentalism, will doubtless emerge as the winner should the government of Egypt fall. The Obama Administration, in failing to throw its weight against an Islamic takeover, is guilty of the same mistake that led President Carter to fail to support the Shah, opening the door for the Ayatollah Khomeini to take over Iran...

[Matchett-PI]

Suez Canal: According to Ask.com, about 50 ships pass through the Suez Canal every day. bttt

On December 17, 2010 a 26 year-old fruit vendor named Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest at his treatment by the local authorities in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid.

That act led to massive demonstrations which led to the government of Tunisia being toppled which led to even more massive demonstrations in Egypt which led to President Hosni Mubarak firing his cabinet and may well end up with Mubarak, himself, having to pull up stakes and head for Switzerland or wherever he has stashed his money.

The troubles in Egypt are serious troubles for everyone.

If the demonstrators - or just plain bad guys - disable the Suez Canal it will mean huge problems. Egypt straddles the Suez Canal which connects the Red and Mediterranean Seas. Without the Suez Canal oil tankers (and every other ship) will have to travel an additional 10,000 miles around Africa to get to Europe.

About 50 ships per day travel through the Suez Canal according to Ask.com.

Egypt has a population of 80.5 million. Israel has a population of just over 7 million. The only thing separating Egypt from Israel is an imaginary line in the Sinai/Negev Desert. Different, but still imaginary, lines in the sand separate Israel from Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan to which this civil unrest could easily spread like an outbreak of political Ebola.

Southwest of Egypt is Nigeria. If the riots spread there (and to Angola and Algeria) disruption of oil production would have a massive impact on the U.S. economy. Why? Because we import about 1.5 million barrels of oil per day from those three countries.

And, if the riots spread east to the Gulf States of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that could disrupt another 1.3 million barrels per day.

Together those five countries provide 2.8 million of the 10 million barrels of oil we import every day. Cut oil imports by 28 percent and it will make the $4.00 per gallon price spike of 2008 look like the good old days.

We know from painful experience how fragile civilization is in Iraq and we would prefer not to have to militarily re-litigate that situation.

Countries like Bahrain, Qatar, the U.A.E. and Oman (whose border with Yemen is a blurry line in the desert) might be targets for Iranian agents provocateurs to use the underlying Shi'ite/Sunni unpleasantness to destabilize those governments as well.

It is true that this could spread to Iran which has seen public unrest all on its own in recent years, but regime change in Iran at the cost of instability in every other country in the region might be too high a price to pay.

It is not likely that any new government will be composed of Western-facing officials. Over the weekend protesters in Egypt began chanting against the U.S. and Israel. No surprise to anyone.

The U.S. provides about $1.5 billion per year in direct assistance to Egypt. According to Forbes magazine about $1.3 billion is for "peace and security" meaning you and I are paying for those tanks which rolled out in Cairo Friday afternoon.

President Obama's remarks on Friday evening were so weak they made dishwater in your grandma's sink seem like battery acid.

The Administration sent Hillary Clinton out to try and make its position clear, but according to the Washington Post's analysis of the Secretary of State's world tour of Sunday shows yesterday:

The Administration has sought to adapt to the rapidly shifting landscape, at times offering contradictory messages.

Vice President Joe Biden last week said he did not believe Mubarak should step down, while Clinton described the Egyptian government as stable. On Sunday, Clinton declined to reiterate either position.

No one can tell where this will all end, but it is already clear that President Obama, who was so eager to re-set America's relationships with the rest of the world is finding out that (a) it is tougher to be President than to run for President and (b) Bush's policies made more sense than Obama thought they did.

It would be better if, when the history of Africa and the Middle East is written 100 years from now, Mohammed Bouazizi is not the functional equivalent of the Archduke Ferdinand." -Rich Galen (Mullings.com)

[spokeshave]

This is a freakin mess and where is our fearless leader?

Tossing a coin to decide the fate of Mubarack

Heads....Mubarack stays

Tails....Mubarack UNDER THE BUS

[dixiechick2000]

Thank you for the post and ping!

As one who remembers well the fall of the Shah, this is deja vu all over again.

I hate it even more now than I did then.

[Peet]

Somewhere in Georgia, a peanut farmer is smiling.

[N. Theknow]

If the demonstrators - or just plain bad guys - disable the Suez Canal it will mean huge problems. Egypt straddles the Suez Canal which connects the Red and Mediterranean Seas. Without the Suez Canal oil tankers (and every other ship) will have to travel an additional 10,000 miles around Africa to get to Europe.

And now 0bama, in one fell swoop only Jimmy Carter could appreciate, is about to score a two-fer .

Lose a somewhat friendly country to Muslim extremists AND give away a canal at the same time.

[Matchett-PI]

“And now 0bama, in one fell swoop only Jimmy Carter could appreciate, is about to score a two-fer . Lose a somewhat friendly country to Muslim extremists AND give away a canal at the same time.” ~ N. Theknow

bttt

MORE:

Eagleburger: This is More Than Just Egypt
Jan 28, 2011
Former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger weighs in on President Obama’s statement on Egypt and the implications of the unrest in the Middle East.

VIDEO:
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4515631/eagleburger-this-is-more-than-just-egypt/?playlist_id=87185

This is part of what I sent out to my email lists the day before the 2008 election:

On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 4:16 PM, [Matchett-PI] wrote:

Former Secretary of State, Lawrence Eagleburger: “Obama Is A Charlatan .. If he’s elected, God help us.”

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt0FrgAA0cw

[ Definition of Charlatan: A flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes. One who prates much in his own favor, and makes unwarrantable pretensions; a quack; an impostor; an empiric; a mountebank. Definition of Mountebank: One who mounts a bench or stage in the market or other public place, boasts of his skill in curing diseases, and vends medicines which he pretends are infallible remedies; a quack doctor. ]

[snip]

[Bigg Red]

They will never be our friends and the best we can do is make them fear us.

***
If only our State Department had your wisdom.

[Bigg Red]

Exactly. Soros is calling the shots.

[Bigg Red]

Hillary sure flip-flopped from one day to the next.

&&&
‘S okay, it’s not as if anyone but FReepers is paying attention. Who’s ahead on “American Idol” or which Hollywood ho is sleeping with whom are more important issues.