The American Spectator : Egypt's Islamist Autocrat

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Egypt’s Islamist Autocrat

By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi on 11.26.12 @ 6:10AM

Mohammed Morsi is hardly the bumbler he was initially thought to be.

When Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) first became president of Egypt, many commentators imagined that power in Egypt was still firmly in the hands of the military and the then head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.

As Daniel Pipes and Cynthia Farahat wrote, “Tantawi…had handpicked Morsi to become president, seeing him as the safest option, someone who could be manipulated or (if necessary) replaced…[He] wanted the obscure, inelegant and epileptic Morsi to run for president because Shater [the original MB candidate] was too dangerous and another Brotherhood candidate- Abdel Moneim Aboul Fettouh, too popular.”

In this view, Morsi was a mere bumbling, clueless idiot, rather like the Emperors of the last twenty years or so of the Western Roman Empire (c. AD 456-476), when the Emperor was no more than a figurehead for whoever was magister militum (“master of the soldiers” — i.e., head of the army) at the time, and could be done away with if he seemed to be exercising too much independent authority.

Pipes and Farahat are of course correct that Morsi’s obscurity prior to the presidential elections is important to consider here, but it is not the case that Tantawi “handpicked” Morsi for president.

Rather, when one considers his obscurity, and the fact that the Supreme Constitutional Court prior to the election had just blocked a law passed by the parliament that barred Mubarak-era officials from running for office, and had ordered the dissolution of the parliament on the grounds of the unconstitutional election of a third of its MPs, it is clear that the military was confident of a victory for Ahmed Shafik — a well-known official from the Mubarak era.

With the election of Morsi, however, the MB had essentially put the military on the defensive, and it was probably at that point hoping for some kind of “constitutional settlement” with Morsi in which it would direct matters of national security and foreign affairs, while the president would be given general autonomy in management of domestic matters, particularly the pressing economic crisis.

Even so, Morsi comes from an Islamist background that had been repressed for many years in Egypt. The natural consequence of this conditioning is a perceived need to consolidate one’s power — not only for the sake of pressing forward with one’s agenda but also shoring up one’s position in a zero-sum game of politics against supposed coup attempts.

Morsi was also well aware of the fate of Hosni Mubarak, who had been ousted by the military that rode the wave of popular discontent and mass protests at the start of 2011.

Accordingly, Morsi began his consolidation of power in August by dismissing Tantawi, putting in his place a virtual client, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who was head of military intelligence. In this move, Morsi had the support of the intelligence services and the Ministry of the Interior.

This first step by Morsi should be noted in comparison with Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose Islamic Dawa party had been banned and violently suppressed under Saddam, and the Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who prior to leading the AKP had been a member of the Islamist Welfare Party, which was the largest party in the coalition government under Necmettin Erbakan, before being forced out of power by the military in 1997 and subsequently banned.

Both Maliki and Erdogan have, like Morsi, initially focused on the military to consolidate power. In Maliki’s case, there has been the filling of the ranks of the military hierarchy with loyalists, and a decentralization of the command structure to prevent a single general from garnering sufficient support to oust him in a coup.

In Turkey, the Erdogan government has arrested and jailed numerous officers on charges of coup plots, such that the military has in effect been sidelined in Turkish politics.

Nonetheless, Morsi has now gone much further than Maliki and Erdogan in his assumption of what Agence France-Presse terms “sweeping powers.” Articles II and VI of Morsi’s new constitutional declaration most openly reflect dictatorial designs.

Article II makes all of Morsi’s “previous constitutional declarations, laws and decrees” — and future rulings until the constitution is approved and a new People’s Assembly elected — immune from being annulled by any body, while Article VI allows Morsi to “take the necessary actions and measures to protect the country and the goals of the revolution.”

While he may have sidelined the military in August the most important context for Morsi’s latest autocratic move is the anti-Islamist opposition he still faces in the judiciary. Egypt is still in the process of establishing a new constitution with its Constituent Assembly, and the Muslim Brotherhood has repeatedly insisted on the maintenance of the Shura Council (upper parliament).

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About the Author

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University. His website is http://www.aymennjawad.org.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (51) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

HickoryStonewall| 11.26.12 @ 6:50AM

To think "hog tying" the Egyptian military shows genius is journalistic rot. Intelligence and self-preservation are not the same thing. In the United States the population has been generationally dumbed down by a failed (by design) education. To be a Despot requires ruthlessness, not a high IQ.

Mike G| 11.26.12 @ 8:59AM

"To be a Despot requires ruthlessness, not a high IQ."

Would you happen to be referring to our President?

KennesawJack| 11.26.12 @ 2:51PM

If he wasn't, he should have been.

Alan Brooks | 11.26.12 @ 4:42PM

Which segues to who you might nominate in 2016. Please, not Jeb Bush, okay? Promise?
Cross your hearts and hope to die?

KennesawJack| 11.26.12 @ 7:27PM

Alan, I don't think you have to worry about a Republican President for a very, very long time. That this disaster in the White House was re-elected illustrates nothing less than the transition of American to a Socialist state. Republicans don't do well at Socialism so you guys got what you wanted, a one party government (the current House is an anomaly). Should be an interesting next few decades. I mean, after all, Socialism has been such a resounding success everywhere it's been tried.

Alan Brooks | 11.26.12 @ 8:12PM

You think America willbe destroyed?
Or do you think it will be socialist?
the South will secede?
Under Sharia?
Hit by a giant asteroid?

You don't know WHAT to think, do you? You are pessimistic but it is unspecific as to to what reason and purpose you are that way. Welcome to the club!

KennesawJack| 11.26.12 @ 9:17PM

No, America will not be destroyed. It will simply no longer be a democratic republic and it will most definetly be socialist. No. The South won't secede. No. Sharia won't be imposed. Asteroid? Bit of a stupid question, wouldn't you say? I'm not pessimestic. Simply realistic. Our economic condition will be the same as our education condition. Just as a rising tide lifts all boats, so does an ebb tide strand them.

Bob Grant| 11.26.12 @ 9:33PM

Well put, Ken.

The "ebb tide" to which you refer will be with us, I'm afraid, for a very long time and will indeed strand many, many boats.

I just don't think our country is cut out for the chronic economic malaise that 8 years of obama will inflict.

We are in the process of cannibalizing everything that makes this country great. And when this stagnation really sinks in with the low-informed among us, wholesale changes will sweep this country.

Whether they are GOOD or BAD changes are yet to be determined.

Perhaps Mr. Brooks someday will someday be slapped hard in the face by Mr. Reality. Based on his previous postings, however, I'm not holding my breath.

Bob Grant| 11.26.12 @ 9:34PM

Too many "somedays" in that last paragraph. Sorry.

benny havens| 11.26.12 @ 7:08AM

In the words of our great Secretary of State, “The Muslim Bortherhood is nothing to worry about, they are a very small faction.”

Joellen| 11.26.12 @ 8:13AM

Benny havens, and she also blamed the murdering of FOUR AMERICANS on a home made video. Arent we lucky to have her and this administration looking out for us!

TLP| 11.26.12 @ 4:18PM

In her defense.

She did make $100,000 selling Cattle Futures short, by reading The Wall Street Journal.

John786| 11.26.12 @ 7:16AM

Morsi has definitely miss-stepped: the opposition are right to cry foul. But these are early days in the revolution. One has to accept ups and downs. The opposition must remain vigilant lest we have the making of a new Pharaoh.

spike59| 11.26.12 @ 4:49PM

barn door? open

horse? galloping away over the hill

might as well pipe down, sonny

Doctor Right| 11.26.12 @ 8:09AM

Can we please disengage from this horrible part of the planet and let these savages kill each other?

I have no interest in what happens in Egypt insofar as it does not have the ability to hurt Americans.

Disengage, unleash Israel to defend herself "with extreme prejudice," and let these Muslim barbarians know in no u certain terms that we carry a very big stick.

Von Mises Jr| 11.26.12 @ 9:01AM

The Egyptians will be ruled by a Dictator. It is simply a question of which Dictator.
What our enlightened geniuses in the Democrat Party do not understand is that America was the only successful revolution since it established a long-lasting Constitution. France had no concept of sovereignty residing in the people since they had always had absolute Monarchy so they had Two Reigns of Terror and then Napoleon the Dictator needed to stop the ten year rebellion.
The American colonies had self-rule and it was this organizational structure that allowed us to expound on our State Constitutions and put in place 235 years or so of a Constitutional Republic (Hannah Arendt “On Revolution”).
Egypt does not have the right stuff for a democratic Republic such as ours with s system of Federalism. I am much more worried that we cannot maintain our own.

c. j. acworth| 11.26.12 @ 9:05AM

And stop subsidizing them, now. How many billions do we send these people in foreign aid?

TLP| 11.26.12 @ 9:00AM

Surely, our resident Child Murdering follower of the Religion of Blow You to Pieces is aware that everyone in the Lands of 6 Year Old Brides is a Morsi, an Arafat and an Assad.

Johnnie knows full well that in his lands, "Stoners" are not those wacky guys at the Party laughing their asses off as they stare at the Fish in their Host's Aquarium. Oh, no. Johnnie Boy's Stoners are the Fathers and Brothers, and the Sons and Uncles of the Poor Woman (or girl) who was unfortunate enough to Allow Herself to be RAPED, without first making sure that she had 4 Male Witnesses at the ready. Or, who bumped in to some guy (Not her Husband) while buying a Coconut. They're the guys with the Rocks in their hands, touching themselves as they await the Ceremonial First Rock to be thrown, so they can Start the Game of BASHING HER HEAD IN after she is buried in the ground up to her shoulders.

It's IMPOSSIBLE to be surprised by anything that these ANIMALS do.

The Sooner they are all Vaporized, the Sooner Civilization can continue.

The 21st Century cannot coexist with the 7th.

It's Basic Physics 101. You cannot have Two objects Occupying the Same Space at the Same Time.

Light and Darkness. War and Peace. Life and Death.

None of this will stop until ALL OF THEM have been wiped from the Memory of Man.

Extremism in the Defence of Liberty, is no Vice. TOLERENCE in the Face of Tyranny, is no Virtue.

No Sh*t.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.26.12 @ 9:10AM

"'Stoners' are not those wacky guys at the Party laughing their asses off as they stare at the Fish in their Host's Aquarium."

I'm pretty sure I saw Jeff Spiccoli staggering out of Morsi's palace not too long ago.

No, wait, that was Sean Penn leaving Hugo Chavez's presidential villa.

nathan| 11.26.12 @ 12:41PM

Stop. You can be indulged up to a point with your ramblings, but only up to a point and I once again call on the American Spectator to properly screen posting to this site.

Human beings, regardless of their actions, are never animals. They are human beings. The moment you dehumanize them you justify any manner of actions consistent with the "they aren't humans, they don't have the unalienable rights humans have". This is the attitude that led to the genocide against the Indians (they were savages and animals too, right) and the Holocaust (those Jews destroyed by those good christians weren't human either and after all under the doctrine of deicide, well they were responsible for the death of Christ weren't they? They certainly got what they deserved.).

You then go on after calling them animals to advocate genocide against them. Children have unalienable rights given by the Creator. Who are you to take those rights from them? We believe in individual rights and responsibilities not collective guilt. What you are saying here runs totally contrary to the principles of the Founders. For INDIVIDUALS who harm others, act accordingly, but those who do not harm people cannot have their rights taken from them unless sir you now claim to be that Creator TJ talked about.

C. Vernon Crisler | 11.26.12 @ 2:15PM

Genocide against the Indians?

Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.26.12 @ 2:15PM

Nathan;

I believe TLP is capable of defending his own statements, and expresses thoughts that may or may not overlap with others here. Nonetheless, as you have described yourself as a Goldwater supporter in 1986, I imagine you don't disagree with the second to last statement.

I've attempted to modify three other sentences in accordance with what you wrote in response.

1)“It's IMPOSSIBLE to be surprised by anything that some of these ~~ANIMALS~~ Adherents to the Religion of Peace do”
2) “The Sooner ~~they are all~~ those individuals who believe and act as I describe are all Vaporized, the Sooner Civilization can continue.”
3)“None of this will stop until ALL OF ~~THEM~~ those who believe and conduct themselves as such have been wiped from the Memory of Man.”

Do you disagree with 1, 2 or 3 as altered (assuming that constitutional methods and/or due process are used to achieve them)?

Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.26.12 @ 2:16PM

I apologize, I meant 1964, not 1986.

nathan| 11.26.12 @ 3:03PM

sigh, better. I'm opposed to the death penalty for a whole lot of reasons. We have short memories here. It wasn't so long ago that Christians were behaving much the same way. Ignoring for the moment that christians were responsible for the Holocaust, not muslims, explain if you will the actions in Northern Ireland on both sides. The British were ghastly in their efforts to suppress the rebellion, no better really than the people they were trying to stop. And again, not a muslim in sight. Who are we to be holier than thou here given the events of the last century?

But I want you sir to note something. We hear constantly "why don't the moderates stand up to the fanatics overseas"? Well we have our very own fanatic in front of us. And yet where is the universal condemnation for the advocacy of genocide? Why isn't everyone on this site responding to him with a resounding "NO". That is not what we stand for. Why didn't you?

We complain about the fanatics and say that the moderates are culpable because they don't take action against them. And yet confronted by someone of similar mentality who would fit so very well with them, no one says a word. Explain that if you will.

Doctor Right| 11.26.12 @ 3:32PM

Christians were NOT responsible for the Holocaust.

That is either an outright lie, or outright ignorance.

Hitler was an avowed atheist who nonetheless followed some of the pagan traditions of Germanic folklore.

To say that the Holocaust was caused by Christians is stupid beyond belief.

The Holocaust - World War II, even - was ENDED by the blood of Christians.

Get your facts straight, please.

spike59| 11.27.12 @ 5:40AM

i'm guessing it is an outright lie on Nathan's part; after all, he CLAIMS to have been a 'Goldwater Republican', when he's clearly a PuffHo troll...so i'm guessing dishonesty just comes natural

nathan| 11.27.12 @ 8:33AM

It doesn't matter what Hitler's religion was. Tell me kind sir what the religion of the the people in France who herded those Jews into the cars bound for Auschwitz. All atheists too? Were all the Germans who participated atheists? Go back and do your homework. Martin Luther was horribly anti-semitic and provided the framework for the Holocaust. The catholic doctrine of deicide certainly added to it. For two thousand years "christians" horribly persecuted Jews. One of the first things those "noble" Crusaders did when they got to Jerusalem was kill every Jew they found and they were quite proud of it. And what was as bad is that the catholic church helped who knows how many nazi war criminals escape justice. (So did we by the way. We had so many in our employ after the war.)

Look at "christians" in the occupied lands, Denmark the exception, so openly cooperated wtih the Germans on this. They in many cases served as guards at the camps. To be sure "some" helped the Jews, often at a price, but "christians" for the most part were apethetic about the Holocaust around them. Pius XII didn't excommunicate participants. Look at his Christmas 1943 message. Even today you can't decipher what he's talking about.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.27.12 @ 8:58AM

"christians were responsible for the Holocaust"

"'christians' for the most part were apethetic "

Now Christians have gone from responsible to apathetic. I don't think your 50 years studying the Holocaust were well spent, sir.

The Nazi leadership was not Christian. Individual Christians participated in administering the Holocaust, as did Jews (George Soros, anyone), atheists, pagans, and muslims.

I recommend being circumspect in criticizing messages that are difficult to decipher. There is more than one way to be incoherent.

TLP| 11.26.12 @ 4:28PM

Kill them all, and let their Pagan Moon God of MURDER, RAPE, and DEATH sort it out.

It's way past the time to Thin this Herd out to ZERO.

They Love Death.They say it every chance they get.

I say Grant Them Their Fondest Dream.

NOBODY will miss them, and All the people of this Earth, will be better off, for it.

Maybe when they Slice your Loved ones Head Off, or Blows them into a Million Pieces, you'll get your Sanctimonious Head outta your Ass.

Like any other Cancer, they need to be Irradiated, and Completely Cut from the Body.

nathan| 11.27.12 @ 8:42AM

What's interesting here is that I've studied the Holocaust for around 50 years. And when I read a post like yours TLP I really get a sense of what those people were like in Germany in the 30's. Here you are again, openly advocating genocide. Everything you write is totally against every principle the Founders laid down. Quote me one quote from the Founders that supports what you say here. ONE. You can't. Hatred, genocidal hatred, well you're no better than the people you hate and want to murder. Don't fool yourself. And again to the American Spectator, start monitoring this site. Your counterpart The American Conservative does, you also need to.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.26.12 @ 4:32PM

While Doctor Right properly addresses your severely inaccurate statement about the origin of the Holocaust of the Second World War being attributed to "Christians", I will refrain from answering any of your subsequent questions until I understand your answer to my question to you ("sigh, better" was unclear).

I will restate what I believe the summary of what I asked: Assuming we use constitutional methods, do you believe that we should resist those who would involuntarily impose Sharia upon us?

TLP| 11.26.12 @ 6:01PM

You're wasting your time with this Fool.

TLP| 11.26.12 @ 6:04PM

Think: Dukakis, when he was asked about the Death Penalty for the ANIMAL who just Raped and Murdered his Wife and Daughters.

Like all Children, little nathan needs to get Burned, before he'll stop touching the Burners on the Stove.

TLP| 11.26.12 @ 6:22PM

Seriously.

Is it Friday yet?

I forget, sometimes, how much I hate Half of these people.

nathan| 11.27.12 @ 8:36AM

Read my comment above. Again where pray tell were the muslims during the Holocaust? No where. We need to quit being so holier than thou here. When we the United States knowingly helped war criminals escape justice and actually had them on our pay roll, then we're going to act as though we ourselves are without sin? Really? No.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.27.12 @ 8:45AM

Do you recall the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Google Bosnia SS troops if you need further info. While limited by geography and limited mass transportation, they were right there.

nathan| 11.27.12 @ 8:51AM

Do I believe in the right of self defense? Yes. My ex wife and I used to say that we would never walk to the "Umschlagplatz". (It's a Holocaust reference, look it up.) We would exact the highest price possible for our lives. Let me put it this way, how you die is just as important as how you live.

That said, you cannot defend yourself using illegal, unconstitutional, immoral methods. You cannot violate your principles. Can you torture a child in front of his father to get information regarding an attack? NO. Can you ever use torture? NO. Can you violate the Bill of Rights of any one in your custody? NO. Can you violate the Geneva Accords? NO. Can you abuse detainees for any reason? NO. By the way who supports me on this? George Washington.

Torture doesn't work. Period. Jack Bauer is a TV show not reality. In real life it doesn't go that way. I refer you to the book on the subject, "Torture and Impunity" by Alfred McCoy. If you read one book in the next six months, this is the book.

Answer your question?

Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.27.12 @ 9:14AM

“We would exact the highest price possible for our lives.”

Would you first try those whose lives you might take in your resistance, or would the exigency of your own imminent death justify departing from due process?

I don’t think I mischaracterize you when I say you post as an absolutist. Absolutism is a form of extremism. While you choose to criticize “fanaticists”, could you please explain why your own adherence to the principles that you have chosen differ from any other position articulated in this thread.

spike59| 11.27.12 @ 5:36AM

Ignoring for the moment that christians were responsible for the Holocaust
===========================
you really need to stop using the word 'christian'; it doesn't mean what you. apparently, think it means

nathan| 11.27.12 @ 8:55AM

I use "christian" in this manner for those who nominally identify themselves this way then as we saw in France during the WWII, herd Jews into cattle cars knowing they were going to end up in a death camp. "Christians" in other words doing very "unchristian" like behavior. How would you describe those Crusaders, who having arrived in Jerusalem, killed every Jew and muslim in sight? Not very "christian" of them as we would nominally consider the word. Not very "go into the world and preach the gospel" of them was it?

Hardcard| 11.26.12 @ 10:21AM

I wonder how much of our $$$$ barry paid for that truce in gaza. Has hillary returnen yet ? and where is mrs. abdulla weiner these days.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.26.12 @ 10:42AM

It is often said that politics is show business for ugly people. Every time I cast my eyes upon a photograph of Mr. Morsi, I have difficulty thinking up a response that would counter such an assertion.

PJ| 11.26.12 @ 5:30PM

At least Morsi's eyes aren't bloodshot like Arafat's, the ugliest man ever!

Butch| 11.26.12 @ 7:31PM

Hey. He looked just like Ringo Starr.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.26.12 @ 9:11PM

I hear Arafat is being disinterred as part of the ongoing investigation into his death. If you think he was ugly before, wait 'til those photos make it on the internet.

Bob Grant| 11.26.12 @ 9:53PM

I wonder how far along he is with his 72 virgins?

And by the way, I don't think the Koran specified the gender. It only promised 72 of them.

So with justice prevailing, let's hope he's having intimate relations with a bunch of nerdy guys with nasal problems as we speak.

TLP| 11.26.12 @ 6:08PM

I thought that The Contest was Show Business for the Ugly?

Also, the Infirm, the Home bound, Alcoholocs, and Society's Outcasts.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 11.26.12 @ 9:08PM

In the contest, we are the critics of the show business for the ugly.

With respect to the rest of the characteristics you list, I stand uncharacteristically mute.

Marc Jeric| 11.27.12 @ 9:09PM

There are two distinct murder cover-ups committed so far by the Obama’s Administration:
1) Fast & Furious murder cover-up. This program designed by the attorney General Eric Holder had the double purpose: a) to close all US gun shops following the accusation these were arming drug lords; and b) to eliminate the 2nd Amendment. Holder was impeached for lying under oath and for refusing to provide internal correspondence on the subject. Several ranking members of the Justice Departments were either fired, transferred out, or forced to retire. The program failed because the gun shops religiously requested Holder’s permission to sell attack guns to doubtful buyers. This murder cover-up was placed out of further discussion and investigation by Obama’s claim of executive privilege.

Marc Jeric| 11.27.12 @ 9:10PM

2) Obama’s program called Arab Spring was designed to bring jihadist governments to Muslim countries. It has succeeded so far in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. It is designed to do the same in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Coupled with the existing jihadist governments in Sudan, Turkey, and Iran, the program will be able to eliminate Israel, to exterminate all the Jews there, and thus to produce the final state of peace in the Middle East. Obama will then be ready to accept his second Nobel Peace prize.
3) The ongoing bombardment of Israel’s civilian population by the Hamas terrorists, aided and abetted by the Egypt’s and Sudan’s jihadist terrorist governments, has caused Obama to call for “moderation by BOTH SIDES” – the situation is not yet ripe for that “Final Final Solution”. Well, Iran has yet some work to perform in producing its nuclear arsenal with which “to wipe Israel from the face of the earth”. Obama will send Valery Jarret to Teheran to negotiate the proper timing for that second final solution.

Marc Jeric| 11.27.12 @ 9:11PM

4) In this light it is understandable that the Benghazi murder cover-up has been necessary in order not to endanger the April Spring program. The Libyan jihadist government was warned to upgrade its control of unruly jihadist undertakings. For several weeks after that murder of 4 Americans by the jihadists, Obama Administration insisted that it was a spontaneous reaction by unruly mobs inspired by an obscure You-Tube film trailer critical of the Prophet. When that explanation was shown to be false, we have now “ongoing investigations”. If those investigations ever approach a danger point, Obama will issue another executive privilege call.

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