Egypt - Doing Nothing Is not an Option

The streets of Cairo and Alexandria and other major Egyptian cities are not quiet tonight, as pro- and anti-Morsi supporters have taken to the streets, often clashing with each other. Tens of thousands of President Mohammed Morsi's supporters marched in Cairo on Friday, demanding his reinstatement and attacking his opponents. Night time clashes with stone-throwing, firecrackers and gunfire near Tahrir Square led to military armored vehicles racing across a Nile River bridge near the Square in a counter-assault on Morsi supporters. Unrest across the nation has left at least 17 people dead and 210 wounded as Morsi supporters stormed government buildings, vowing to reverse the military's removal of the country's first freely elected president. The supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badir, defiantly vowed the president would return. "God make Morsi victorious and bring him back to the palace," Mohammed Badie proclaimed before a crowd of cheering supporters at a Cairo mosque. "We are his soldiers, we defend him with our lives." Badie commented on the military, saying it is a matter of honor for it to abide by its pledge of loyalty to the president, in what appeared to be an attempt to pull ordinary soldiers away from their leadership that removed Morsi. "Your leader is Morsi ... Return to the people of Egypt," he told the army. "Your bullets are not to be fired on your sons and your own people." After Badie's Brotherhood speech, pro-Morsi marchers headed toward Tahrir Square where anti-Morsi groups had been massed all day. Battles broke out near the neighboring state TV building with gunfire and stone throwing and burning car barricades at an exit ramp. Army troops deployed on a Nile bridge leading into Tahrir, sealing it off with barbed wire and armored vehicles. Later, seven armored personnel carriers moved across the bridge, chasing away Morsi supporters. Young civilians jumped onto the roofs of the APCs, shouting insults at the Islamists and chanting, "The people and army are one hand." Clashes broke out all over Egypt, with pro-Morsi Brotherhood members battling police and Morsi opponents. Anti-Morsi groups, including the National Salvation Front and youth groups, called on the public to take to the streets immediately "to defend popular legitimacy" against what they called a "malicious plot" by the Brotherhood. They said in a statement the Islamists were trying "to portray a false image" to the world that they have popular backing and to spark foreign intervention. ~~~~~ It seems, dear readers, that Egypt will undergo turmoil somewhat like that which accompanied the popular movement that ousted Mubarak. The silence and inaction of democratic nations in 2011 certainly contributed to the successful takeover of Egypt's political apparatus by the Moslem Brotherhood and its leader, Mohammed Morsi. This time, the Arab neighbors of Egypt have been quick to offer support to the Egyptian military. One could see this as simply a cynical effort to protect their own conservative regimes. But, there is more than cynicism at work. Egypt is the largest Arab nation...the largest nation in the Middle East...the gatekeeper of the Suez Canal that links Asia to the Mediterranean and Europe...the oldest Arab repository of Moslem doctrine...in brief, the lynchpin of the Arab world. It is vitally important to the Middle East and to the Arab world and to Israel and to the larger world that Egypt functions politically. It is equally vital that Egypt is not forced into a repressive radical Islamist form of society, such as Morsi and the Brotherhood desire. Egypt must be a source of moderation reflecting modern Islam in order to prevent the radicalization of the entire Arab world. This is what makes it essential for the United States to lead world support for the Egyptian military while exerting private diplomatic efforts to help guide the military successfully through this extremely difficult period. There are times when doing nothing is not a choice. This is one of those times.