Posted on 03/09/2017 1:24:05 PM PST by Mount Athos
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis’ pick for undersecretary of defense for policy, Anne Patterson, is problematic.
Politico briefly explains why:
If nominated and confirmed, Patterson would hold the fourth most powerful position at the Pentagon -- and would effectively be the top civilian in the Defense Department, since both Mattis and his deputy, Robert Work, were military officers.
As ambassador to Egypt between 2011 and 2013, Patterson worked closely with former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and his Islamist government. She came under fire for cultivating too close a relationship with the regime and for discouraging protests against it -- and White House officials are voicing concerns about those decisions now.
This is putting it mildly. Back during the months leading to the June 30, 2013 revolution, Patterson -- the “Brotherhood’s Stooge” as she was called by all, from news analysts to the Egyptian street -- was arguably one of the most hated individuals by the millions of Egyptians who took to the streets against Morsi and the Brotherhood.
Not only did her face regularly appear next to Obama’s in placards; it sometimes appeared alone, indicating just how closely she was seen as supporting the Brotherhood. It should be noted that these were not isolated sightings, as shown by the number of different placards and signs:
Below are just a few anecdotes that I have translated from Arabic language media before, during, and after the June 30, 2013 revolution that highlight Patterson’s unsavory ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
In the days leading to the revolution, Patterson called on Egyptians not to protest. She even met with the Coptic pope and asked him specifically to urge the nation’s Christian minority not to oppose the Brotherhood -- even though Christians were naturally going to suffer the most under Morsi, especially in the context of accusations of "blasphemy."
Soon after the revolution, she repeatedly tried to reinstate the Brotherhood to power.
Even Muhammad Heikal -- “the Arab world’s most respected political commentator,” and for over 50 years an Egyptian political insider -- said during a live interview that Patterson had assured the Muslim Brotherhood’s Hisham Qandil, who under Morsi was Egypt’s prime minister, that “there are many forms of pressure, and America holds the keys to the Gulf.”
Later, Patterson demanded that Egypt’s recently appointed supreme commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces, General Abdul Fatah al-Sisi, release all Muslim Brotherhood members currently being held for questioning:
And when Sisi rejected this order, the American ambassador began threatening him that Egypt will turn into another Syria and live through a civil war.
Another report said Patterson was “trying to communicate with General Sisi, demanding dialogue with the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, and concessions to them,” to which Sisi reportedly retorted:
Stop meddling in our affairs … the Egyptian people are capable of looking after their own welfare.
In a live interview on Tahrir TV, political insider and former Egyptian Member of Parliament Mustafa Bakari exposed the relationship between Patterson and Khairat al-Shater, the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.
He said she was regularly seen going to and from the Brotherhood leader’s private residence, as opposed to meeting at the party’s headquarters. He said she told al-Shater “we [the U.S.] will stand with you [regarding the June 30 protests],” and that she treated the Brotherhood leader as the “true ruler of the nation.” Bakari concluded by saying:
[I]n fact, in my opinion, she is a member of the sleeper cells of the Brotherhood, likely recruited by Essam al-Erian or Muhammad al-Baltagi.
Because of all this, several of Egypt’s revolutionary forces, including Tamarod, which played a pivotal role in the June 30 Revolution, staged protests in front of the U.S. embassy in Cairo “calling for the ejection of ambassador Anne Patterson.”
In connection, Egyptian journalist Abdullah al-Sanawi said this on live TV:
Anne Patterson’s presence in Egypt has become a great burden for America, and Patterson should be admitted into a mental hospital for her deeds are full of bloodshed and the Obama administration is in a very awkward position in front of the whole world, the [U.S.] Congress and the Pentagon.
Soon thereafter, Youm 7, a popular newspaper in Egypt (then the sixth-most visited website in the nation according to Alexa.com), conducted a survey asking its readers:
Do you support the call to kick U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson out because she interfered in Egyptian affairs?
A whopping 87.93% said yes, 10.54% said no, and 1.53% were indifferent. Youm 7’s audience is almost exclusively secular-leaning or Christian. It was the non-Islamists of Egypt that disliked the U.S. ambassador -- not the Muslim Brotherhood, which benefited from her.
In 2013, even Foreign Policy, a publication notorious for always siding with establishment D.C., noted that Patterson was widely seen among Republicans “as the key implementer for a policy that at least offers tacit support to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Such is the person that General Mattis wants to place in a top Pentagon position.
Mattis was a pick even the left supported. His attitude toward Russia, the EU, etc. shows me he is establishment.
I feel like with some of Trump’s picks, he is picking people he personally likes but who don’t necessarily agree with him (establishment types). Now I’m not saying Mattis is, but I am saying that some of these people are going to be an impediment to his agenda.
Surround yourself with people who fully support your agenda. You are already fighting the world so to speak; you don’t need to fight your Cabinet.
Does it seem Trump is just a little too deferential to a uniform with shiny stars? Insecure about the military commander in chief role? Some of these generals are brainwashed by a generation or more of the globalist worldview and some are looking for a skirt to put in a high ranking job to bolster their diversity creds- another fallout of their training
Patterson fits right in with National Security Advisor HR McMaster and his deputy, KT McFarland, both long-time Council on Foreign Relations members. McMaster, the swaggering guy who can’t say ‘Islamic extremism’.
Very depressing, actually.
If I were Trump, I would have had a list of questions about my policies that I would have asked to each person I interviewed for a Cabinet position (particularly those relevant to the job the person will be doing). I would go right down that list. If the answers were not in support of my agenda - bye bye. I need a Cabinet ready to do battle with me. The opposition will come from outside the Administration.
As far as military, I think Trump has a lot of respect for Generals more than the traditional politician, but I think he needs to make sure his Generals support his agenda fully. It seems there are many military figures who back a traditional, establishment foreign policy.
bump
Obama’s foreign policy was anything but “ traditional”
Anyone who collaborated on Arab Spring should be out on the street
I suspect that Anne Patterson is simply a professional bureaucrat who has no principled opinions that premise her actions; she simply rubber stamps and executes the plans and script given to her by whoever her boss is at the time. When Egypt went down she was Obama’s lackey there...
Maybe not such a “rash” course of action.
Who said “Keep your friends close. your enemies closer”?
Canary, meet cat.
Regards,
HLB
We were supposed to be kicking the Muslim Brotherhood out of the Lincoln Bedroom, not moving in extra bunk beds.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.