
5 years in prison for Egyptians who publish square massacre sign on social media - ArabGeek
http://arabcrunch.com/2013/12/5-years-in-prison-for-egyptians-who-publish-cairo-square-massacre-sign-rabea-on-social-media.html
======
joyeuse6701
As I see it, America has always had a big issue with cults of personality
since WWII and will do close to anything to get rid of them, including the
'democratically' elected, whatever that actually means.

While the public foreign policy statement is something like 'oh, if your
people elect you, you're a-ok' it's much more like 'if you're a friend of the
U.S. and don't do anything we find objectionable, you're a-ok'. Objectionable
being, basically murdering your own people enmasse and or giving signs that
you're not going to be a benevolent dictator, or trying to get more than
conventional weapons.

~~~
pessimizer
>As I see it, America has always had a big issue with cults of personality
since WWII

Where exactly have you seen this?

>While the public foreign policy statement is something like 'oh, if your
people elect you, you're a-ok' it's much more like 'if you're a friend of the
U.S. and don't do anything we find objectionable, you're a-ok'. Objectionable
being, basically murdering your own people enmasse and or giving signs that
you're not going to be a benevolent dictator, or trying to get more than
conventional weapons.

How exactly did Mossadegh, Allende, or Arbenz fall under this rule of thumb?
The US has a history of overthrowing democratically elected leaders and
installing mass murdering despots who were friendly to gigantic US businesses.

Has the US _ever_ overthrown a dictator in favor of democratic elections?

------
at-fates-hands
>>> When the Egyptian army which is baked by the US government launched a
coupe against a democratically elected president.

Is it just me or has the US foreign policy been upside down the last 5-8
years??

~~~
InclinedPlane
Geopolitics is complicated, now as much as any time in history.

The US has been doing "OK" with regard to Egypt lately but there's really no
good way to handle what's going on there. On the face of it Morsi was
democratically elected but he also gave himself unlimited powers and was on
his way to becoming just as much a tyrant as Mubarak ever was. He was deposed
by a military coup which has its own problems and now Egypt is devolving into
what seems to be an inevitable sectarian war (just as is happening in Syria,
Lebanon, Iraq, and Pakistan/Afghanistan).

Calling the Egyptian army "backed by the US government" is a bit of a stretch.
Prior to the coup the US shipped 12 F-16 fighters and millions in aid to Egypt
under Morsi, since the coup the US has delayed further scheduled deliveries of
F-16s and aid, largely as a protest for the harsh actions of the government
against dissident groups. Nevertheless, there isn't exactly a good side to
back in Egypt at present. It's not as though there's a nice, peaceful secular
organization dedicated to democracy and individual liberty just quietly
growing in the shadows. Instead there are a bunch of folks who want to seize
power to further their own interests.

Removing Qaddafi in Libya was almost certainly a good move though the followup
there has been lacking. And the failure to engage in a meaningful way in the
middle east in general has been frustrating. It's a hard problem, but sitting
back and fucking around when there's serious shit going down isn't really the
best alternative. The middle east is going to be hugely different over the
next decade, but how much influence the US will have over that shape (to guide
it away from islamic fundamentalism and totalitarianism specifically) is very
much in doubt at present.

~~~
pessimizer
>Calling the Egyptian army "backed by the US government" is a bit of a stretch

No, it's literally true. Although I've heard that an end to US military aid to
Egypt would simply mean an end to US influence in Egypt, as they could easily
secure support elsewhere without the restrictions that the US imposes on who
they can deal with.

>It's not as though there's a nice, peaceful secular organization dedicated to
democracy and individual liberty just quietly growing in the shadows.

This is the result of US support to the Egyptian government. As elsewhere in
the Middle East, the US propped up a dictator and assisted him in
exterminating all secular opposition. There's no way to do that to the
religious opposition, so when the dictator leaves, all you have to fill the
vacuum are fundamentalists.

~~~
InclinedPlane
The idea that the current Egyptian regime is "US backed" or that it is
significantly more "US backed" than Morsi's regime, is frankly not supported
by reality.

US support for Mubarak's regime was always problematic but it was
theoretically in service to the greater good of maintaining peace between
Egypt and Israel (which lasted for decades). When Mubarak started murdering
protesters the support of the US government for him evaporated rather quickly.

------
guard-of-terra
I don't like islamists but that's exactly what makes them feel righteous and
multiplies their numbers.

------
darkbot
I can't read the article. Site seem to be or overloaded. (or DDOS:ed?)

~~~
sp332
Mirror [http://archive.is/ESfqw](http://archive.is/ESfqw)

Here is the link labelled "Including this geek"
[http://archive.is/UEEoy](http://archive.is/UEEoy)

Here is the banned sign:
[http://i.imgur.com/mzhp9V8.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/mzhp9V8.jpg)

