some of obama’s ambassadors make bush’s ambassadors look almost like diplomats

US envoy under fire for criticizing Egypt protests
Reuters, Jun 20 2013

Not an ideal choice (Photo: al-Masry al-Youm)

CAIRO – The US ambassador to Egypt is under fire from opposition groups who were angered by her criticism this week of planned mass rallies against the MBs. Anne Patterson responded to widespread talk among Egyptian liberals that Washington had thrown its weight behind Morsi by saying in a speech on Tuesday that the US was working closely with the elected government and also listening to all Egypt’s political groups. In her Tuesday speech, she said:

This is the government that you and your fellow citizens elected. Even if you voted for others, I don’t think the elected nature of this government is seriously in doubt. The US took the position that we would work with whoever won elections that met international standards. Egypt needs stability to get its economic house in order, and more violence on the streets will do little more than add new names to the lists of martyrs. Instead, I recommend Egyptians get organized. Join or start a political party that reflects your values and aspirations. Egyptians need to know a better path forward. This will take time. You will have to roll up your sleeves and work hard.

Patterson also spoke of what she called “conspiracy theories” that Washington connived to topple Mubarak in 2011 and replace him with the MBs, with whom US diplomats had long maintained contact when they were banned and in opposition. “Such speculation is groundless,” she said. Groups involved in promoting demonstrations for Jun 30 aimed at pushing Mursi to step down a year after he took office, rejected her suggestion they risked further violence and would be better engaged in improving their electoral organizations. By Thursday, after extensive local media coverage of her remarks and condemnation by opposition leaders of “interference” in Egypt’s internal affairs, social media was dominated by angry and hostile comments directed toward Patterson and her embassy. Among the more polite, tycoon Naguib Sawiris tweeted:

Madam Ambassador, please bless us with your silence.

Nearing One Year In, Egypt’s Leader Is Besieged by Critics
Ben Hubbard, Mayy el-Sheikh, NYT, Jun 20 2013

CAIRO — Across Egypt, angry crowds have barred Morsi’s appointees from their offices, millions have signed petitions calling for his ouster and work crews have fortified the headquarters of the MBs, who propelled him to power, to prevent attacks the police have failed to stop. As the one-year anniversary of Morsi’s inauguration as Egypt’s first freely elected president approaches, he faces widespread discontent from a swath of society and stinging grass-roots campaigns that have undermined his ability to wield power and address the country’s most pressing problems. Emad Shahin, a political science professor at the USAian University in Cairo, said:

If I were a ruler, I would be very concerned about this, because the street is out of your control. It is out of everyone’s control.

Morsi inherited a dysfunctional state, one worn down by decades of Mubarak’s authoritarian system, which marginalized the masses and empowered and enriched an elite few. But during his year in office, life has grown only harder. Now as the summer heat arrives and the holy month of Ramadan approaches, power cuts, gas shortages and rising food costs have made the crisis a profoundly personal matter for many citizens. Emad Mohammed, who reupholsters chairs in the poor Cairo neighborhood of Deir al-Malak, said:

The whole country is sinking, and it is people like us who feel it the most. All my costs have risen. Drivers charge more for deliveries because buying gas means waiting in hour-long lines.

All of this has left Morsi with few allies other than the MBs. This week the country’s top Muslim cleric rebuffed those who called anti-Morsi protests un-Islamic and declared it religiously permissible to protest peacefully against one’s leaders. The patriarch of Egypt’s Coptic Church publicly criticized Morsi’s performance. And the situation may soon grow even worse for the president. Egypt’s disparate and disorganized opposition is calling for mass protests on Jun 30. Morsi and his allies argue that he still has electoral legitimacy and that the opposition has rebuffed his efforts to reach out, leaving him no choice but to rely on the MBs for support and top posts. They also say post-revolution difficulties are no surprise. Murad Ali, a spokesman for Morsi’s Freedom and Justice Party, said:

When it comes to our current performance, we had hoped to do better, but the challenges are great and we believe that nobody could have performed better.

Egypt’s economy has been declining since the revolution, with unrest chasing away investors and tourists. Foreign currency reserves are half of what they were under Mubarak. The country’s stock exchange hit an 11-month low last week, Reuters reported, and the Egyptian pound has fallen by 10% since last year. Analysts describe the government as stuck in a downward spiral: its weakness prevents it from taking decisive measures, which allows the situation to get worse, which causes more discontent. For months, the government has been negotiating a $4.8b loan on fairly easy terms from the IMF. The thinking is that if the IMF approved a loan, that could give the government the credibility it needs to unlock billions more dollars in aid and loans. But if a deal is reached, it will probably mean reducing fuel subsidies, which will incite the public. Ragui Assaad, an economist at the University of Minnesota who studies Egypt, said such a deal had been possible in other countries, but only when there had been a strong government. He said:

There are ways to do it, but you need a credible government so that when you say people will be compensated, they believe you.

But it is just that, credibility, that Morsi is struggling to regain as protesters challenge his authority across the country. His newly appointed culture minister has not entered his office in two weeks since demonstrators who accuse him of trying to “Brotherhoodize” the ministry occupied the building. Morsi seemed to aggravate the situation this week when he appointed 17 new governors, 7 of them MBs, setting off protests in many cities as activists burned tires, chained shut doors and blocked some new appointees from reaching their offices while besieging others inside, the state news media reported. In the city of Tanta, clashes between MBs and protesters left 32 people wounded. In Luxor, the naming of a member of the Gamaa al-Islamiyya, a group that once carried out terrorist attacks in the same area, prompted carriage drivers to block the city’s Nile-front boulevard. Egypt’s tourism minister threatened to resign in protest, though it was unclear on Thursday if he had left his post. Harnessing the anti-Morsi feeling is a grass-roots campaign that claims to have collected millions of signatures calling for Morsi to step down. The group’s volunteers have fanned out to cities across the country to gather signatures, holding signs that read “Leave!” The group says it will present its final petition to Egypt’s Constitutional Court to request that it withdraw confidence from Morsi and appoint an interim president to lead until new elections. The campaign has exasperated Morsi’s supporters, who have initiated a counter-campaign and accuse the opposition of being anti-democratic. The MBs are planning their own rally on Friday under the banner of “No to violence,” although activists on both sides acknowledge that the anniversary protests could lead to clashes. one Morsi aide said:

When George W Bush had a 22% approval rating, USAians didn’t talk about early presidential elections.

Morsi himself has dismissed the opposition as anti-revolutionary and loyal to the old government. Ali, the spokesman for Morsi’s party, said:

With the current state of polarization and without reaching an understanding or working together, we will reach hell and kill each other in the streets.