An Urgent Letter from Egypt
Posted by Shadi Hamid
I just got an email from Saad Eddin Ibrahim, one of Egypt's most prominent and courageous pro-democracy activists. Amr Tharwat, an employee of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies (which Saad Eddin founded), was arrested just over a week ago. Saad Eddin writes:
[Amr Tharwat] has been in Egyptian custody for one week now, along w/ four other family members, and we have been able to discover nothing about his specific whereabouts or what he is being charged with. We at the Ibn Khaldun Center consider his arrest as simply another manifestation of the current regime's complete disregard for human rights and basic human liberties. Please do all you can do through whatever channels you have at your disposal to pressure the Egyptian government to release Amr and his family members.
This is not just about Amr. This is about a rapidly deteriorating situation in Egypt, the second-largest recipient of US aid. This is about Egypt's autocrats - led by strongman-for-life Hosni Mubarak - who have mercilessly done everything in their power to destroy the Egyptian opposition. So what will we do? As Americans, we have a responsibility to speak out, particularly as close to $2 billion of our money goes to the Egyptian regime each year.
As I wrote earlier this week, Congress is set to debate and vote on foreign aid levels as part of the foreign operations appropriations bill. The full committee mark-up is scheduled for this Tuesday, June 12. Rep. David Obey (D-WI), Tom Lantos (D-CA), and Nita Lowey (D-NY) are three Democrats who have taken an interest in this issue, with Obey and Lantos, in particular, having supported reductions in aid to Egypt. If you would like to call their offices to urge them to take action on aid to Egypt, please do. Phone numbers: Obey (202-225-3365), Lantos (202-225-3531), Lowey (202-225-6506). To learn more about this issue and what congress can do about it, see here.
"Our nations [US and Egypt] are united by ties of friendship and a shared commitment to regional stability, economic prosperity and peace. Today, the strategic partnership between our countries is more important than ever, as we confront the threat of global terror. And I want to thank the President [Mubarak] for his steadfast support in our war against terror. Egypt has been a good friend, and I'm grateful".--President Bush, March 5, 2002
Dems and Repubs alike are united in the grand "global war on terror" and here we have some terrorists who want to upset the Egyptian government. Clearly they are candidates for extraordinary rendition and torture but luckily they have been detained by the Egyptian government for their own protection.
And all it costs is a couple of bil! Heckuva deal. Now here comes Shadi with his Carteresk naivetivity wanting to promote democracy in the face of 'terrorist threats'.
Shadi, my friend, you can't have it both ways. You can't "break down and rebuild" with a "pro-chaos" foreign policy, and still stick by our allies in the grand "global war on terror". Who's the enemy? (supposing there is an enemy) If the enemy is Mubarak, then abandon the "GWOT". If those terrible Islamic terrorists are the enemy, then support Mubarak. Bottom line: AIPAC says c