Egypt, we are told by the US government, is an indispensable ally of the US. Therefore, the takeover of Egypt by radical Islam (the Muslim Brotherhood) would be a disaster. The US would lose its major ally in the Arab world.
True, if radical Islam takes control of Egypt, it would be a disaster for the US, for Israel and the West in general.
But not because Egypt has been an ally.
Rather, the US had paid off Egypt for a single purpose: to stop it from waging wars that destabilize the Middle East and endanger the flow of oil.
The US has been right to see Egypt as bellicose. In 1948, Egypt led the Arab world in attacking the nascent State of Israel. In 1956, Egypt sought to destroy Israel again. In 1967, Egypt led the Arab world, aiming to throw Israel into the sea. In 1969-1971, Egypt waged a war of attrition along the Suez Canal. In 1973, Egypt (and Syria) launched the Yom Kippur War.
The US wanted to stop these wars and the chaos they wrought on the oil market. President Carter, following the lead of Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin, brokered the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in 1979.
To get Egypt to sign, the US sent Egypt $3 billion annually for years (its now about $1 billion).
It didnt matter to the US that Egypt never used the money to improve the lot of her citizenry. That wasnt the purpose of the American aid. The purpose was to bribe Egypt to stop waging war.
It made no difference to the US that there never was any real peace between Israel and Egypt, only a cold peace, including the demonization of Israel by Egypts press.
With great regret over the chaos in Egypt, the US government now waxes eloquent about Egypts role in promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace and in fighting terrorism.
In fact, on the Israeli-Palestinian front, Egypt hates Hamas-controlled Gaza because it borders and threatens Egypt. It is not Israeli-Palestinian peace that motivates Egypt. Its leader, Hosni Mubarak, is as indifferent to the welfare of Palestinian Arabs as he is to the welfare of Egyptian Arabs. Ask the rioters in Cairo how much Mubarak cares for them. Ask the same of the Arabs in the refugee camps of Gaza.
No, Egypts role in the Israel-Palestinian peace process was simply to defang Gaza, nothing more.
As for Egypts role in fighting terrorism, the terrorists whom Egypt fought were Egyptian-grown. Not a small thing, to be sure, but not enough to prevent either 9/11 or the second intifada against Israel.
The US bribed Egypt with more than money. It bribed with flattery. When President Obama decided to address the Arab world, he did so from Cairo. He gave it that status. But did Egypt respond to Obamas call to make gestures of normalization toward Israel? No.
The chickens are coming home to roost. The US did not care about the Egyptian people, and rather liked Egypts dictatorship. It was stable.
The US now faces the loss of influence in Egypt. Despite the billions the US has sent to Egypt, the US never helped the Egyptian people, only the Egyptian government.
Americas lost opportunity in Egypt began back in 1979, right after the Israel-Egypt peace treaty was signed. Israel was shocked to learn that Egypt did not normalize relations with Israel, did not stop its anti-Israel bile, did not engage in affirmative, people-to-people relations, such as cultural and student exchanges, and did not encourage tourism. In 1979, right after the euphoria of the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country, the US had the clout to demand a price for its aid to Egypt. American aid was new, not yet taken for granted. The US had the power to demand of Egypt: Make a real peace. Make a difference.
The US had the clout to make a difference for the Egyptian people.
But the US didnt care not Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton or Obama. Just didnt care.
The signal exception was President George W. Bush, who said in 2003: Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty. As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment, and violence ready for export.
Copyright © 2011 by the Intermountain Jewish News
