The Egyptian people were smart to get rid of an ineffectual religious conservative leader before he had a chance to embed his party into the government and systematically islamize all branches of powers. It would have been much harder to depose him later than now. Since the Egyptian military is economically tied to the country's economy, they weren't happy with Morsi trying to impose a religious dictatorship on the country instead of improving the economy. Basically, The people who had brought Mr. Morsi to power decided they did not want him and were demanding his ouster. The military had to intervene to avert a devastating catasrophe. They could not simply turn into a suppressive security- apparatus of a an undemocratic fundamentalist Mr. Morsi.
Here is great comment from another blog explaining what happened in the aftermath of Mubarak's ouster:
"Obama's Ambassador to Egypt is being hung in effigy for her unflinching support of Morsi and urging protesters to stay home. Obama's foreign policy is non-existent, and if anything, he is supportive of repressive Islamist regimes. He has strengthened their hand in Egypt (by rushing Mubarek out and not letting him form a transitional government so the opposition would have had more time to organize, instead supporting the extremist brotherhood for political expediency giving them 1.6 billion dollars in aids.”
The reason this isn’t a coup and IS a legitimate transition of power is that the constitution Morsi rushed through doesn’t have an impeachment provision and even if some part of it could be construed for that purpose, Morsi “dismissed” legitimately elected representatives from parties he didn’t agree with and “stacked the deck” in the legislature that would otherwise administer an impeachment attempt.
So this is merely the people demanding an impeachment.
The election of Morsi was not the will of the majority as it is quite obvious now. His election only indicates that MB is efficient both in logistics (community organizing and support via mosques, funds etc.) in getting the vote out and has mechanism in place like huge mosques and infrastructure to mobilize people to get the vote out...The progressives do not have that luxury,yet. This is only their first election. The democratic institution and infrastructure that are necessary for a democratic process are non-existence in Egypt as they were in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution debacle. First Elections after the fall of a long dictatorship should not be held until the society and other groups can level the playing fields as their t entrenched counterpart Islamists groups. First Elections do not make a country democratic or its president a democrat.
MB took advantage of it by rushing through a Constitution where there was no provision for impeachment of a President acting Unconstitutionally. Morsi acted unconstitutionally several time by firing the judiciaries, attending Islamist rally in support of fighting Syrian infidels, and appointing a known Islamist terrorist as a governor, etc.
He should have heeded the calls of the opposition for the early elections. Why did he not do that if he was really interested in democracy and the interest of its people and not his political party????
The people have our country (THE US and IRAN) as an example of what happens when a right-wing conservative party gets a foothold (*NC, OHIO's new laws regarding women's pro choice rights) in government and cultivates the religious crazies as a voter base...and they're smart enough to want no part of it.
*Mandatory Transvaginal Ultrasounds: Coming Soon to a State Near You
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/03/transvaginal-ultrasounds-coming-soon-state-near-you
http://www.juancole.com/2013/06/astonishment-appointment-terrorist.html
http://www.juancole.com/2013/07/fundamentalist-protesters-ultimatum.html
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/how_egypts_michele_bachmann_became_president_and_plunged_the_country_into_c/
http://www.juancole.com/2013/07/demonstrations-egyptian-president.html
http://www.juancole.com/2013/06/egyptian-revolution-protest.html
http://www.juancole.com/2013/06/duelling-demonstrations-fundamentalism.html
http://www.juancole.com/2013/06/appease-violence-provinces.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/us-house-kay-granger-blocks-egypt-aid_n_1924303.html
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/morsi-decree-constitution-power.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/12/2012121371332920740.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/84163.html
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/11/22/egypts-morsi-grants-himself-far-reaching-powers/1721135/
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=55698
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2GnHVBPS28#at=136
http://iroon.com/irtn/vlog/3679/
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/morsi-role-at-syria-rally-seen-as-tipping-point-for-egypt-army-1.1450612
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/03/can_coups_be_democratic_sometimes/
I have mixed feelings on this. Obviously, I don't like Morsi and his Islamist bunch. But unlike Iran where Khamenei is an unelected lifetime "leader," Morsi was elected in a free election. There's no indication of election fraud. So, the resolution to the peroblem was to vote him out. Or, if he was breaking the law, he could have been dealt with by legal means. Those are my thoughts on the issue.
Dear AO: If you follow what led up to this after Mubark was ousted and how Morsi was pushed through, remembre the MB said they will not participate in the election but they did and this incensed so many people that they boycotted the election much to their own peril...this was predictable. Morsi had been warned since he took power by the Army and other opposition groups.
He also should have heeded the calls for early elections but he did not budge. I have provided an extensive list of reference that you can read and you will find as I did that this was predictable.
The army has been in negotiation with the opposition since the early days of Morsi unconstitutional power grabs but could not do anything. (read the links i have provided). The army told the opposition that they can't do anything unless people were able to mobilize in large numbers and the opposition organized and precisely did what the army asked them to do. At this point, the army had to interven to prevent chaos. The army simply could not turn into Morsi's oppressive security apparatus. This was merely a correction by market forces if you will.
Almost all nations that have revolutions and ultimately produce democracies, reject the 1st try at government. In fact, there's a tendency to kill those who took power following the initial revolution, as France did. In the US, we didn't kill the revolutionaries, but they had the sense to see that their 1st attempt at a new government was not working. They ditched the Articles of Confederation, because they didn't give the Federal Government enough power to actually function as a nation.
Even now, we still argue about States Rights.... and some still want the Articles of Confederation style government, which would have, in essence, given us 50 separate countries bound only by loose alliance.... basically something that looked a lot like the EU. At the 2nd try, they created the US Constitution in 1787, followed by the Bill of Rights. Our 3rd revolution was the Civil War.
dear Ao: This is a must read:
Morsi role at Syria rally seen as tipping point for Egypt army
Head of state (MORSI) had attended rally with hardline Islamists calling for holy war in war-torn neighbour
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/morsi-role-at-syria-rally-seen-as-tipping-point-for-egypt-army-1.1450612
Another soft coup: Morsi grants himself far-reaching powers
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=55698
Is fired up our own Vilde mose??:))
It just dawned on me as i was reading this post..
DM: :)))
LOL
You know what gave it away? I knew you were a die hard fan of Juan cole's writings, so i was like, wait a minute there....:))))
good to see you again:)
Thanks Firedup jaan. You have pointed out to many valid points. And thanks for the links and informtaive articles. I was just saddened to see the return of military into Egyptian politics. I sure hope that Egypt doesn't become another Syria.
Dear AO: The large majority of the Egyptian have taken the side of the military over the Muslim brotherhood. The military apparently had a deal with MB; to think that they did not would be naive given the military's vast empire.
Was the election really free without coercion, not really? The MB was the only cohesive group at the time, there were no other political parties to speak of and there was no reasonable transition to allow them to coalesce into groups that represented the interests of the segments within the Egyptian population. When the MB won so decisively the liberals and other seculars were in shock but there was little they could do about it. I look at this action more as a preventive measure than something that turns Egypt back. Hopefully the military will keep to the sidelines and allow a democratic government to form that protects the interests of all Egyptians, not just the radicalized Islamists.
Hamas was elected democratically and was the last Democratic election in the Gaza
just as Hitler won the election. He made sure there were no new honest elections.
Hamas run such an apartheid state no power for Christians or Jews. They burned the last Christian library down....Morsi's was doing the same thing:
"Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is a profoundly racist organization. They openly believe in the Qu'ranic commandment that non-Muslims are required to live as second class citizens and pay onerous taxes.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/06/coptic-christian-priest-killed_n_3554234.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/03/1220995/-Morsi-govt-was-permitting-the-murder-of-Coptic-Christians
The Morsi govt did not place single female in any high office of govt. About a month ago Morsi said that a woman's place is in the home, not in the work place. He also said a woman must always obey her husband .
The MB Arab language website stresses the necessity of Jihad, and there are constant references to the "infidel" and his inferiority.
The English language website is specifically designed for the progressive Western media. The MB is sophistated at manipulating the Western press. Knowing full well Western guilt concerning past colonization, they take full advantage of this knowledge, utilizing the jargon of the liberal inteligencia, portraying world events concerning Islamism as the reaction of the oppressed Third World peoples to Western exploitation.
Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. The MB is a hateful misogynist, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and anti-Democratic bunch.
If you need a moral justification for a coup against a democratically elected candidate, look no further than the MBs failure to protect the lives of the Christan Copts. During the year its been in power, there have been numerous murderous attacks on the Copts. Never did the MB try to help - not a single arrest has been made.
thecamelshumpblog.com
Previous killings of Copts under Morsi's Adminstration:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/03/1220995/-Morsi-govt-was-permitting-the-murder-of-Coptic-Christians
Millions of Muslims and Coptic Christians in Egypt Unite Against Morsi's Islamist Government
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2263727/Mother-Nadia-Mohamed-Ali-seven-children-jailed-15-years-Egypt-converting-Christianity-Islam.html#ixzz2YHbkpfNb
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Egypt on the Brink: The Danger of a Left-Liberal Boycott of Elections
http://www.juancole.com/2013/03/liberal-boycott-elections.html