Egyptians Confront Clinton with Conspiracy Theories

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It may not have been what U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was expecting on her first visit to Cairo since Egyptians voted in their first democratic presidential election in the country’s history last month. But for a portion of her two-day visit to the Arab world’s largest country, Clinton found herself confronting the ultimate reversal of Arab-world conspiracy theories. According to some of the civil-society leaders and activists she met with — as well as some who refused to meet with her at all — the U.S., once allegedly the backer of Hosni Mubarak’s authoritarian regime, is now a supporter of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood. One Egyptian-American Christian who attended a meeting with the Secretary of State on Sunday even cited the Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachman’s recent assertion that the Obama Administration is pursuing a closeted pro-Muslim agenda.

“They had their concerns, and were even angry with the situation on the part of the American Administration, which has implied in the past few weeks that it is blessing the rise of political Islam in Egypt,” explained Youssef Sidhom, a prominent Christian activist and newspaper editor, who was present at Clinton’s Sunday meeting with Egyptian-Christian leaders. Egypt’s Christian minority, and indeed many secularists, have grown increasingly vocal about their fears of an Islamist rise since the election of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsy as President in June. Sidhom said that Clinton convincingly reassured the meeting on Sunday that the U.S. has not and will not side with any political party.

But the confrontation underscores the increasingly murky political waters that the U.S. Administration has sought to navigate in the 18 months since a popular uprising ended the 30-year reign of longtime U.S. ally Mubarak. Last month’s presidential vote propelled Morsy, an official from the once banned Muslim Brotherhood, into the country’s highest seat of power. And the power struggle that has since ensued between Morsy and the unelected military generals, who took power when Mubarak stepped down and have proven unwilling to fully let go, has only deepened the political swamp.

One U.S. official confided to TIME on Sunday that the Secretary of State’s first postelectoral visit was challenging in large part due to the lack of obvious counterparts for Clinton and her staff to meet with amid the ongoing power struggle, since Morsy has yet to appoint a Cabinet. Another official said that within the status quo, it’s also sometimes unclear — even among military leaders and within the presidency — which individuals are the real decisionmakers.

Egyptians have long propagated conspiracy theories to explain the generally opaque doings of their corrupt government. And their suspicions of the U.S. have only grown in the past 18 months, as U.S. officials have sought to promote democracy in the country, while simultaneously seeking guarantees from the unelected junta of respect for U.S. interests, particularly Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel. U.S.-Egyptian tensions hit a new high in January when Egypt’s prosecution of several prominent American NGOs had Washington threatening to halt Egypt’s $1.3 billion in annual military aid. But the retrospective emptiness of those threats — despite the lack of a resolution to the NGO crisis, and recent moves by the military to consolidate rather than cede power — may have only bolstered the generals’ confidence, and hammered in another uncomfortable truth for U.S. officials: American influence in Egypt is waning.

Perhaps in acknowledgement of that fact, Clinton struck a decidedly softer tone on the military during her visit, compared with the statements made by the State Department last month after the generals dissolved the country’s elected parliament and seized legislative control for themselves. After meeting with President Morsy on Saturday, Clinton told reporters that the U.S. continues to support Egypt’s “full transition to civilian rule with all that entails,” and she outlined a $1 billion debt-relief package. But she trod cautiously around the military’s recent power grab, saying: “The issues around the parliament, the constitution have to be resolved between and among Egyptians.”

Human-rights groups say that the military council has sent more than 10,000 civilians to closed military tribunals in the past 18 months, and it has been repeatedly implicated in the use of violence and torture against protesters. Activists warn that those abuses may continue as long as the military maintains a role in Egyptian politics. But it’s not clear whether Clinton broached these issues when she met with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), on Sunday. A high-ranking State Department official only said that the two had discussed Egypt’s transition, Tantawi’s “ongoing dialogue with President Morsy,” minority rights and the Obama Administration’s proposed economic-aid package.

In her remarks on Saturday, Clinton commended the SCAF “for representing the Egyptian people in the revolution, as compared to what we’re seeing in Syria, which is the military murdering their own people.” The comparison drew frustrated responses from some activists. “Kind of a low bar,” tweeted one anonymous Cairene. “‘Thanks for not butchering children!’ Maybe SCAF will reply with ‘Thanks for not invading us!’” But as Clinton departed for Israel on Sunday afternoon for the final leg of a world tour that included Afghanistan and East Asia, U.S. officials also seemed to suggest that their hands were tied when it comes to exerting much influence in Egypt’s unfolding political drama. “Only Egyptians can choose their leaders,” is the message that Clinton sought to convey in all of her meetings, stressed one senior State Department official. “We have not supported any candidate, any party, and we will not. But what we do support is a full transition to democratic civilian governance.”

Time

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38 responses to “Egyptians Confront Clinton with Conspiracy Theories”

  1. 73Corty77 Avatar
    73Corty77

    Stop barking you Zionist bitch.

    1. rossoferrari Avatar
      rossoferrari

      Nice language ignorant. Uneducated individuals should be barred from this site. Is that how the iranians and h/a (I am assuming that you are one of them the way you constantly defend them) are going to fight their way to democracy and the liberation of palestine. Stupidity is acquired and you did.

      1. 73Corty77 Avatar
        73Corty77

        Uneducated Individuals you say. Well after reading most of what you say I can confidently say you definitely fall into that category. In terms of me defending Iran and H/A, don’t forget Syria, Russia and China as well. My defending them doesn’t need to mean that I am one of them. I only speak what I see. You call me stupid as well, That’s a pretty big call by a person who has no idea what’s actually going on around the world and follows like a sheep. 
        Furthermore I would rather follow Iran, Syria and H/A than be a Zionist devil Worshiper. You wouldn’t happen to be one of them would you dopey.

        1. rossoferrari Avatar
          rossoferrari

          Yep uneducated is the least description when you quip “Stop barking you Zionist bitch.” You seem to have a real issue with smart and powerful women. Go pound sand in the iranian desert

      2. 73Corty77 Avatar
        73Corty77

        I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I have nothing against woman. Only ones like this bitch who is nothing more than puppet serving Zionist devil worshippers. Go pound my head in the Iranian desert.
        And you have the nerve to call me uneducated. YOUR AN IDIOT. 

        1. rossoferrari Avatar
          rossoferrari

           Yo, I said go pound sand in the iranian desert, not your head, like if you had one. BTW, Iran deserts cover about 34 million hectares of the 1648195 square km
          land of Iran. About 61% deserts, 24% Sand Dunes and 15% sand hills, lots of room for you  to play

  2. 73Corty77 Avatar
    73Corty77

    Stop barking you Zionist bitch.

  3. 73Corty77 Avatar
    73Corty77

    Stop barking you Zionist bitch.

    1. rossoferrari Avatar
      rossoferrari

      Nice language ignorant. Uneducated individuals should be barred from this site. Is that how the iranians and h/a (I am assuming that you are one of them the way you constantly defend them) are going to fight their way to democracy and the liberation of palestine. Stupidity is acquired and you did.

      1. 73Corty77 Avatar
        73Corty77

        Uneducated Individuals you say. Well after reading most of what you say I can confidently say you definitely fall into that category. In terms of me defending Iran and H/A, don’t forget Syria, Russia and China as well. My defending them doesn’t need to mean that I am one of them. I only speak what I see. You call me stupid as well, That’s a pretty big call by a person who has no idea what’s actually going on around the world and follows like a sheep. 
        Furthermore I would rather follow Iran, Syria and H/A than be a Zionist devil Worshiper. You wouldn’t happen to be one of them would you dopey.

        1. rossoferrari Avatar
          rossoferrari

          Yep uneducated is the least description when you quip “Stop barking you Zionist bitch.” You seem to have a real issue with smart and powerful women. Go pound sand in the iranian desert

      2. 73Corty77 Avatar
        73Corty77

        I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I have nothing against woman. Only ones like this bitch who is nothing more than puppet serving Zionist devil worshippers. Go pound my head in the Iranian desert.
        And you have the nerve to call me uneducated. YOUR AN IDIOT. 

        1. rossoferrari Avatar
          rossoferrari

           Yo, I said go pound sand in the iranian desert, not your head, like if you had one. BTW, Iran deserts cover about 34 million hectares of the 1648195 square km
          land of Iran. About 61% deserts, 24% Sand Dunes and 15% sand hills, lots of room for you  to play

  4. dateam Avatar

    i dont get it..in yemen they had elections with one candidate only who was salehs vp…and in egypt they had elections and now the military will not give up power…so basically they had elections to say they are capable of having elections????

  5. dateam Avatar

    i dont get it..in yemen they had elections with one candidate only who was salehs vp…and in egypt they had elections and now the military will not give up power…so basically they had elections to say they are capable of having elections????

  6. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    The USA basically always wants to simply do business. Trouble is, they often don’t understand the people they do business with, or know anything about other ‘cultures’, until it’s too late to be seen as helping various despots. They more often think the leader of another country is actually liked by it’s people, for instance. (gasp)
    So we see that a country which thinks ‘Big Business’ is essential to a good life has a problem with countries who think some culture (religious or otherwise) is more essential to that – and USA always back their ‘Big Business’ types first. This ‘Forever Misunderstanding’ is rather sad on both sides, and a reason the USA often screws up while it’s actually thinking it is trying to ‘help’.
    Now take Egypt. Here is a curious case of some great desire to emulate western democracy, and be helped by ‘the west’. Yet now it will turn and blame them for not simply sending money and going away, so that ‘leaders’ can be swapped in and out as usual by a bomb or a coup or any of the other less democratic but more inventive methods used over centuries of ‘wonderful culture’ in an area at least 4000 years older than America.
    After all, what can such a young ‘culture’ really understand, or teach, the old farts of the Middle East? 😉

    1. dateam Avatar

      i read an article forget where…morsi was saying that hes going to put a coptic as vp and maybe woman as house speaker???? sometimes we may not like the choices people elect but whats happened has happened and they need to be given a chance…the military needs to let go and see what happens…as you say it is the middle east and im sure if the miliatry dont like they take anyway anytime????

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        Yes dateam, he did say that … one wonders how much strength of opinion they would be given. But yes he should have the chance, since he is the first guy elected in a ‘free’ poll.
        In all countries with elections, when the ‘term’ is over, the people have the chance to elect him out again. What will be more important is what they come up with as a parliament, and what kind of constitution that group will be able to create for a future with continuing success in having elections, which agrees with the changes the people basically want.
        It’s still going to be a long road ….

  7. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    The USA basically always wants to simply do business. Trouble is, they often don’t understand the people they do business with, or know anything about other ‘cultures’, until it’s too late to be seen as helping various despots. They more often think the leader of another country is actually liked by it’s people, for instance. (gasp)
    So we see that a country which thinks ‘Big Business’ is essential to a good life has a problem with countries who think some culture (religious or otherwise) is more essential to that – and USA always back their ‘Big Business’ types first. This ‘Forever Misunderstanding’ is rather sad on both sides, and a reason the USA often screws up while it’s actually thinking it is trying to ‘help’.
    Now take Egypt. Here is a curious case of some great desire to emulate western democracy, and be helped by ‘the west’. Yet now it will turn and blame them for not simply sending money and going away, so that ‘leaders’ can be swapped in and out as usual by a bomb or a coup or any of the other less democratic but more inventive methods used over centuries of ‘wonderful culture’ in an area at least 4000 years older than America.
    After all, what can such a young ‘culture’ really understand, or teach, the old farts of the Middle East?

    1. dateam Avatar

      i read an article forget where…morsi was saying that hes going to put a coptic as vp and maybe woman as house speaker???? sometimes we may not like the choices people elect but whats happened has happened and they need to be given a chance…the military needs to let go and see what happens…as you say it is the middle east and im sure if the miliatry dont like they take anyway anytime????

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        Yes dateam, he did say that … one wonders how much strength of opinion they would be given. But yes he should have the chance, since he is the first guy elected in a ‘free’ poll.
        In all countries with elections, when the ‘term’ is over, the people have the chance to elect him out again. What will be more important is what they come up with as a parliament, and what kind of constitution that group will be able to create for a future with continuing success in having elections, which agrees with the changes the people basically want.
        It’s still going to be a long road ….

  8. Btru2u Avatar

    I PITY HER SOUL

  9. Btru2u Avatar

    I PITY HER SOUL

  10. abukrih Avatar

    this is so vague…is clear as day light that the chaos in Egypt is a goal for prolonged weakening of the Arab  world…keeping this country numb and isolating it from effective confrontaion against the jewish state is the ultimate desire by…..??? no need for conspiracy theories here….

    1. Moe2000 Avatar

       Your correct keep the Most populous influential Arab nation on a leash by corrupting there generals and keeping the dictatorship via generals.

    2. Moe2000 Avatar

       Your correct keep the Most populous influential Arab nation on a leash by corrupting there generals and keeping the dictatorship via generals.

  11. abukrih Avatar

    this is so vague…is clear as day light that the chaos in Egypt is a goal for prolonged weakening of the Arab  world…keeping this country numb and isolating it from effective confrontaion against the jewish state is the ultimate desire by…..??? no need for conspiracy theories here….

    1. Moe2000 Avatar

       Your correct keep the Most populous influential Arab nation on a leash by corrupting there generals and keeping the dictatorship via generals.

  12.  73Corty77 ignore that upstart rossoferrari , as a Zionist I like you the way you are,your not unneducated, your not dumb and your not stupid. You are a very good, very very smart boy.

    1. 73Corty77 Avatar
      73Corty77

      I’m finding it hard to pick myself up of the floor from the laughter

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        What ??  Corty actually laughing at ‘Theorists’. ??? Never thought it could happen …. ;-))))
        But Clinton lays it out the way it is, and a pack of theological theorists will never believe anyway.

    2. 73Corty77 Avatar
      73Corty77

      I’m finding it hard to pick myself up of the floor from the laughter

  13.  73Corty77 ignore that upstart rossoferrari , as a Zionist I like you the way you are,your not unneducated, your not dumb and your not stupid. You are a very good, very very smart boy.

    1. 73Corty77 Avatar
      73Corty77

      I’m finding it hard to pick myself up of the floor from the laughter

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        What ??  Corty actually laughing at ‘Theorists’. ??? Never thought it could happen …. ;-))))
        But Clinton lays it out the way it is, and a pack of theological theorists will never believe anyway.

  14. Let’s talk about culture. Not all cultures are equal. There are no perfect cultures because we are imperfect we are humans.

  15. Let’s talk about culture. Not all cultures are equal. There are no perfect cultures because we are imperfect we are humans.

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