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The Abhorrent Vacuum (Mark Steyn on Egypt)
Steyn Online ^ | 9/11/2012 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 09/13/2012 11:21:21 AM PDT by mojito

In the breast of the Western media, hopes of Arab Spring spring eternal. First we were told the Muslim Brotherhood would contest only a third of the seats in the Egyptian parliament, just to ensure they had some representation in the legislature among all those students, women, and Copts. Then we were told it would be half the seats, but don't worry, they had no plans to contest the presidency. Next we were told they were taking a run at the presidency, but most unlikely to win compared with all those far more appealing time-serving hacks from transnationalist bureaucracies like the Arab League and the International Atomic Energy Agency who were itching to jump in the race. And finally, after the Brothers took the presidency and swept the parliament, we were assured that they could govern only in a finely calibrated balance of power with the secularist military.

Inevitably, within a few weeks of taking the oath of office, President Morsi fired the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, purged the top brass, including the chief of staff and the heads of the air force and navy, and reversed such restraints on his power as they'd imposed. Equally inevitably, the view from Washington was that this was no more than "a generational change in military leadership." It is true that General Sisi is a younger man than Field Marshal Tantawi. However, the fact remains that, in his first month in office, Mohamed Morsi has accomplished what it's taken the post-Kemalist regime in Turkey its first decade to pull off: the end of the army's role as constitutional guardian.

Indeed, he seems to have ended the constitution, such as it is.

(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Israel; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: arabspring; egypt; marksteyn; muslimbrotherhood; obama; steyn
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This column was written just before the events of the last 48 hours.

It's 0bama's Egypt: We just live in it.

1 posted on 09/13/2012 11:21:27 AM PDT by mojito
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To: mojito

We supported a mob of Muslim terrorists over an ally. Chose chaos over stability. This is 1979 round two.


2 posted on 09/13/2012 11:22:51 AM PDT by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

“This is 1979 round two.”

x10


3 posted on 09/13/2012 11:33:57 AM PDT by PetroniusMaximus
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To: JLS

Ah-Steyn-hu akbar!


4 posted on 09/13/2012 11:34:45 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (You can't have IngSoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: mojito

Every time I read or especially listen to Mark Steyn, I feel smarter from the experience.


5 posted on 09/13/2012 11:53:47 AM PDT by Mr. K ("The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum [of good]")
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To: mojito
Nothing wrong there that a nuke or two on Cairo wouldn't fix
6 posted on 09/13/2012 11:56:04 AM PDT by GoldenPup (Comrade "O" has got to GO!!)
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To: mojito

bump


7 posted on 09/13/2012 12:14:08 PM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
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To: GoldenPup
“Nothing wrong there that a nuke or two on Cairo wouldn't fix”

The nukes that fall on Tehran and Cairo and Damascus will have the Star of David on them and not the Stars and Stripes. Obozo will still be apologizing and dithering.

8 posted on 09/13/2012 12:42:50 PM PDT by MasterGunner01
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To: MasterGunner01

Our nukes?

No one knows if they would even light up . . .

Untested.

Out of date.

Imagine trying a computer last tested in 1992 . . .

That’s our last operational test of an American nuclear warhead.

Oh . . . I know . . . they have been upgraded and modified and the wires shined . . . but we do not KNOW if they work.


9 posted on 09/13/2012 1:10:42 PM PDT by Jonathan
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To: mojito
After Qaddafi, Hillary Clinton offered the following clunker of a sound bite: "We came, we saw, he died." In reality, we're gone, they saw, and the post-American world is being born.

I pray Steyn's wrong... has that ever happened?

10 posted on 09/13/2012 1:34:17 PM PDT by GOPJ (Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading - T. Jefferson)
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To: Jonathan

No ours, Israel’s.


11 posted on 09/13/2012 1:59:23 PM PDT by MasterGunner01
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To: GOPJ

Steyn thought BinLaden was dead early in the Afghanistan conflict, so he can make an error.


12 posted on 09/13/2012 2:30:29 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Use the nukes, Bibi!)
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To: Tax-chick

Strangely enough, that makes me feel better.


13 posted on 09/13/2012 3:12:18 PM PDT by GOPJ (Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading - T. Jefferson)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

14 posted on 09/13/2012 4:02:35 PM PDT by SJackson (none of this suggests there are hostile feelings for the US in Egypt, Victoria Nuland, State Dept)
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To: TheOldLady; Rummyfan; Howlin; riley1992; Miss Marple; Dane; sinkspur; steve; kattracks; ...

Mark Steyn ping.

Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.

Thanks for the ping Slings and Arrows


15 posted on 09/13/2012 7:54:07 PM PDT by JLS
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To: Tax-chick

I still have seen no evidence with my eyes that shows Bin Laden lived beyond Tora Bora. So maybe Steyn is still batting 1.000?


16 posted on 09/13/2012 8:11:48 PM PDT by Dr.Deth
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To: GOPJ
I pray Steyn's wrong... has that ever happened?

She sure enough said it.

And, then, she giggled...

17 posted on 09/13/2012 8:32:20 PM PDT by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA; Ignorance on parade.)
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To: mojito
The prototype Islamic Republic finds itself with rival models in Cairo and Ankara, and, in a contest for regional hegemony, imposing your nuclear umbrella on the Saudi monarchy and Gulf emirates is a relatively simple method of brand differentiation. I doubt the rivalry between the Sunni Brothers, the Shia ayatollahs, and the neo-Ottoman Turks can resolve itself peacefully, even before the nukes change the equation.
18 posted on 09/14/2012 1:19:22 AM PDT by Rummyfan (Iraq: it's not about Iraq anymore, it's about the USA!)
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To: TigerClaws; PetroniusMaximus

My tagline for a good while in 2008-2009:

(Obama: Carter’s only chance to avoid going down in history as the worst U.S. president ever.)

Carter really got the Islamic ball rolling by undercutting the Shah and putting the radicals in power there. We are seeing much more of same with Obama.


19 posted on 09/14/2012 2:45:39 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Mr. K

I’ve been saying for years that I wish I could write 10% as well.


20 posted on 09/14/2012 2:46:32 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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