LESSONS LEARNED IN EGYPT : WHY CAN'T OBAMA & HIS "B" TEAM LEARN THEM, TOO?

HASSAN AL-BANNA

During the early spring of 2011, as the "Arab Spring" in Egypt got underway and crowds began pouring into Tahrir Square in Cairo, my thoughts turned to a long-ago squash game in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  I had just begun a quest to learn the game while I was at King Saud University.  On one occasion, I was challenged by a rotund individual wearing  typical Egyptian garb.  Thinking I might be faster on my feet, I accepted his challenge for a game. In short order, he exposed me for what I was - a squash rookie - and totally devastated my hopes of ever reaching squash stardom.

I was informed by a Pakistani friend that my squash opponent was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, who taught Islamic studies at the university.  Furthermore, I was to learn that the fellow was in exile from Egypt, because of his political views.  The encounter raised my curiosity, and I began to bone up on the topic of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Later, when I visited Egypt, I was to learn much more.

My research revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood had its origins in Egypt in 1928, when a young teacher, Hassan al-Banna, began speaking out against Western imperialism, proclaiming that the best way to counter European influence in Egypt - and, specifically British influence - was by adhering to traditional Sunni Islam and to reject all foreign ways that might tempt Muslims to stray from the fold.  Within ten years time, there were more than 500,000 Egyptian members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

TAHRIR SQUARE, CAIRO, 2011

After Banna was assassinated in 1949, the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood passed to Syed al-Qutb, a scholar who had pursued graduate studies in the U.S. at Colorado State and Stanford. Qutub's matriculation  in America had the effect of reinforcing his view that Islam was the only hope for the redemption of Egypt from European colonialism and what he considered the loose lifestyles and "race imperialism" he had observed in the U.S.

By the 1960s, the Muslim Brotherhood had several million members in Egypt and had become so strong that the secular government of Gamal Abdul-Nasser had banned it, and hundreds of its members had been banished from Egypt, just like my squash opponent in Riyadh. By 1966, Syed al-Qutub had been tried by Nasser's government and subsequently hanged.

SADAT IN MIDDLE, WITH MUBARAK ON HIS RIGHT

My first visit to Egypt occurred in 1980, which was, perhaps, the high point of the international attention which was being given to Egypt's president at that time, Awar al-Sadat.  Sadat had become quite popular in Egypt when that country's armed forces acquitted themselves courageously against the Israeli Defense Forces during the 1973 war.  His popularity at home, however, would eventually wane, when he shook hands with Prime Minister Begin of Israel in 1979, thus cementing a peace of sorts during the mediation of President Carter at Camp David.

THE ASSASSINATION OF SADAT

After Camp David, Sadat was the darling of the media in America and throughout Europe.  However, during my stay in Cairo in 1980, one thing stood out:  On almost every street corner throughout the city there were enormous banners with Sadat's image emblazoned on them.  Having seen displays of the sort throughout the world, I quickly got the idea that, contrary to what was being said in the U.S, Sadat was an out and out dictator, a feeling which was confirmed by conversations with Egyptians.  Consequently, when Sadat was gunned down by elements in Egypt tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, I was not surprised.

A former air force general, Hosni Mubarak, followed Sadat and managed to extend his rule for more than 30 years, finally falling victim to the Arab spring movement, when the the long-suffering patience of the Egyptian people came to the breaking point after decades of corruption, cronyism, poverty and human rights abuses.

At long last, in what were called "democratic" elections in 2012, the Brotherhood finally came to power, with Mohammed Morsi assuming the presidency of Egypt.  Those elections, by the way, were characterized by intimidation, particularly against the 10 million Egyptian Christians.  The Morsi government lasted a couple of weeks over a year; and, owing to incompetence and widespread violence directed against non-Islamic enthusiasts, was toppled in July of this year. And so, once again in Egypt, events have come full circle and back to a military government.

TOPPLED ISLAMIST PRESIDENT MORSI

Crane Brinton's classic work, ANATOMY OF REVOLUTION, offers some meaningful insight into what is now playing out in the societal upheaval through which Egypt is passing.  The failure of the Sadat and Mubarak regimes to adjust to the demands of a long-beleaguered population, of which 60% now are less than 30 years of age, obviously led to insupportable pressures that could not be restrained by traditional means of repression.  In the succeeding phases of the upheaval, there are predictable developments, viz. various elements of moderate, radical and military orientation will in turn exercise power.  In due course and leading to a final synthesis, hopefully, there will emerge a regime based on expediency and level-headedness.  However, there is a wild-card ingredient in all of this, and that, of course, is Islam.  Again, hopefully, Islam will not return to power in any way to impose an Islamic state on Egypt.  If it does return to power, the result will be disastrous.  Not only will the Egyptian people continue to suffer, the American position in the Middle East will be outflanked by forces dedicated to the destruction of Israel, resulting in turmoil and economic disruption for years to come.

Less than 2 years ago, Barack Obama's director of national intelligence, General James Clapper, was raving about how the Muslim Brotherhood was a moderate, secular force.  And, now, just where are we?  Apparently, that view was not only Clapper's but reflected the wider thinking of the president's foreign policy "experts," who either were engaging in politically correct wishful thinking or just plain did not do their homework.  Whatever the reason, we now have a Middle East situation, compounded by what is happening in both Egypt and Syria, that points to one of the greatest disasters in all the diplomatic history of the U.S. As Americans, we should be embarrassed that we reelected a  rank amateur to the presidency in 2012.