It is becoming more apparent that the coup in Egypt did not come about overnight. While not many appreciated that the Islamic Brotherhood was the big winner in the elections even poll watchers acknowledged that it was, by and large, a free election. The opposition to the Brotherhood did not organize and boycotted the election which is sort of like cutting off your nose to spite your face. It will be difficult to find anyone here in the US that is terribly disappointed to see the Brotherhood fall but if we are to stand for democracy we must sometimes accept that we don't get our way.Egypt is a key ally in our Middle East strategy such as it is, and a protector of Israel's southern flank. There can be little doubt that the US was aware of these preparations and tacitly agreed to them. Legally we can't proved aid to any government in which a military has overthrown a democratically elected regime so we aren't calling this a coup. In fact, we aren't calling it anything and not a soul in our Congress is yelling about it. Obviously this has to be seen as base hypocrisy around the globe.
Under the previous regime the Muslim Brotherhood was outlawed and the actions of the Generals now seem to be to decimate the influence of the Brotherhood and once again deny them a place on the ballot. This tactic will only serve to inflame the Brotherhood and give rise to terrorist tactics that have some chance of success. The Brotherhood controls some 25% of the vote and deserves a place at the table even if it is radical. After all, we don't eliminate political parties just because they have an unpleasant agenda.
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