Muslim Brotherhood Official, Former Clinton Foundation Employee Arrested

Official business for two organizations overlapped

Gehad el-Haddad

A senior Muslim Brotherhood official who, until recently, had been employed by the William J. Clinton Foundation was arrested in Cairo on Tuesday and charged with inciting violence.

Gehad el-Haddad served as one of the Muslim Brotherhood’s top communications officials until Egyptian security forces seized him as part of a wider crackdown on officials loyal to ousted former President Mohamed Morsi.

Before emerging as a top Brotherhood official and adviser to Morsi, el-Haddad served for five years as a top official at the Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit group founded by former President Bill Clinton.

Read more at The Washington Free Beacon >>

Vital Interests vs. Democratic Ideals

 By Patrick J. Buchanan

Understandably, the Muslim Brotherhood is enraged.

Having won the presidency of Egypt in free and fair elections after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, President Mohammed Morsi has been ousted in a military coup and placed under house arrest. Brotherhood leaders, convicted of no crimes, are being rounded up.

They played by America's rules. Now, with America's blessing, they are being locked up by America's friends in Egypt's armed forces.

Egyptian Court Sentences Christian Family to 15 Years for Converting from Islam

"The United States will continue to be a friend and partner to Egypt.  We stand ready to provide whatever assistance is necessary — and asked for — to pursue a credible transition to a democracy.  I’m also confident that the same ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that the young people of Egypt have shown in recent days can be harnessed to create new opportunity — jobs and businesses that allow the extraordinary potential of this generation to take flight.  And I know that a democratic Egypt can advance its role of responsible leadership not only in the region but around the world."

 Barack Hussein Obama

Today's headline about an Egyptian woman and her seven children being sentenced to 15 years for converting from Islam falls on the Feast Day of Saint Anthony of Egypt, the father of monks, whose life of oblation, fasting and prayer in the desert fortified him with a profound sense of Christian realism.  His life is a reminder that this world is not our home; instead we are on a journey, confronting great evil along the way.  It is an evil which can no longer be viewed as foreign or in the past.  It touches us every day.  It resides in the highest places, it appeals to our vanity, and it seeks our destruction.  But it is fleeting and can be withstood and overcome, as it was by Saint Anthony of Egypt,  only with Christ in whom "we live and move and have our being."

In the past Americans would look to our government to express our collective outrage at injustice and the persecution of Christians around the world.  Perhaps it is better, through silence and prayer, that we recognize, as did the third century saint, our only sure path and true hope:

"Let it be your supreme and common purpose not to grow weary in the work you have begun, and in time of trial and affliction not to lose courage and say: Oh, how long already have we been mortifying ourselves! Rather, we should daily begin anew and constantly increase our fervor. For man's whole life is short when measured against the time to come, so short, in fact, that it is as nothing in comparison with eternity. . . . Therefore, my children, let us persevere in our acts of asceticism. And that we may not become weary and disheartened, it is good to meditate on the words of the apostle: 'I die daily.' If we live with the picture of death always before our eyes, we will not sin. The apostle's words tell us that we should so awaken in the morning as though we would not live to evening, and so fall asleep as if there were to be no awakening. For our life is by nature uncertain and is daily meted out to us by Providence. If we are convinced of this and live each day as the apostle suggests, then we will not fall into sin; no desire will enslave us, no anger move us, no treasure bind us to earth; we will await death with unfettered hearts."

Saint Anthony of Egypt

Patriarch Looks for Better, Brighter Egypt

Expresses Thanks for "Patriotic Youth"

From Zenit

Cardinal Antonios Naguib

The Coptic Catholic patriarch of Alexandria says the Church in Egypt is joining with all of the nation's "loyal citizens" to thank God for the "wonderful success" of the youth movement that began last month and led to the resignation of the president. Cardinal Antonios Naguib said in a statement Sunday, "We are sure that all expectations will be met, God willing."

Since Jan. 25, Egypt has been the site of massive protests and demonstrations urging the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. The president finally stepped down Friday. A military council is now ruling the nation.

The cardinal spoke of forces "that refuse[d] the wrong situation controlling the country for so long." He said there is hope for a "better and brighter future for the Egyptian civilization" and noted the "love of Egypt and the dignity of its citizens."

"Egypt has been making its history for 7,000 years with letters of light and fire," Cardinal Naguib said. "And it is now shining with a new radiance."

The patriarch assured prayers for those wounded in the struggles and the victims of ensuing violence and vandalism.

He said that the protests brought about "a reality that was absent for so long, which is the unity of the citizens, the youth and the old, Christians and Muslims, without any distinction or discrimination, in purpose and action for the good of Egypt, and for the security and safety in the country."

"We are certain that these feelings that reigned in hearts will last for the near and distant future," the cardinal added. "Now, it is time for serious, committed and decisive work, so that Egypt would be at the forefront on the social, economic and political levels, and shine again with its deep-rooted civilization that illumined the world over the centuries.

"With all Egyptians, we are looking forward to swift steps that will bring about what was declared by the supreme council of the armed forces, which is the reconstruction of the nation on sound constitutional bases. We want Egypt to have its position among the modern countries."

Who Will Defend Mideast Christians?

From USA Today

By Joseph Bottum

Perhaps the situation in Egypt will resolve itself peacefully. Or perhaps we'll see a long stretch of public unrest before the nation finally stumbles its way into a new form of stable government. But there's one easy prediction to make: Whatever happens, Egypt's Coptic Christians are going to be hurt, unless the United States makes a major diplomatic effort to help them.

About 10% of the Egyptian population (and declining, down more than half over the past century), these people have suffered discrimination under 30 years of rule by the now-embattled president, Hosni Mubarak. And they've seen that discrimination ratcheted up into open persecution during the current unrest, which began with a car bomb in Alexandria killing 21 at a Coptic church on Jan. 1 and continued through the massacre of 11 Christians in the village of Sharona on Jan. 30.

So why should they expect improvement from a new government? Particularly one in which the radical Muslim Brotherhood is certain to play a major role? The Copts are under the screw, and somehow, every time modern Egyptian history makes a turn, it ends up biting down harder on the nation's religious minorities.

Ronald Reagan Schools Obama on the Egypt Crisis...31 Years Ago

Great wisdom from one of our greatest Presidents, 31 years ago -- and as relevant and true today as it was at that time.

While Cairo Burns, Obama Parties

From White House Dossier

By Keith Koffler

The Emperor and His Court

The Washington A-List was out in force Saturday night at the farewell party for senior adviser David Axelrod, with a roster of guests featuring Cabinet secretaries, big shot journos and – President Obama.

As revolution threatened to sweep Egypt and possibly other allies – with the horrifying prospect of Islamism replacing reliable friends – the president was on view partying with the IN crowd.

The skepticism beyond the Beltway about whether Washington is just one big Love-In certainly gets fed by the sight – as conveyed by the press pool report – of reporters like ABC’s Jake Tapper, NBC’s Chuck Todd, National Journal’s Major Garrett, and John Harwood of CNBC and the New York Times emerging from a bash with the president that was held to toast his chief political fixer and leading spinmeister.

The Egypt Crisis in a Global Context: A Special Report

From Stratfor Global Intelligence

By George Friedman

It is not at all clear what will happen in the Egyptian revolution. It is not a surprise that this is happening. Hosni Mubarak has been president for more than a quarter of a century, ever since the assassination of Anwar Sadat. He is old and has been ill. No one expected him to live much longer, and his apparent plan, which was that he would be replaced by his son, Gamal, was not going to happen even though it was a possibility a year ago. There was no one, save his closest business associates, who wanted to see Mubarak’s succession plans happen. As his father weakened, Gamal’s succession became even less likely. Mubarak’s failure to design a credible succession plan guaranteed instability on his death. Since everyone knew that there would be instability on his death, there were obviously those who saw little advantage to acting before he died. Who these people were and what they wanted is the issue.

Let’s begin by considering the regime. In 1952, Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser staged a military coup that displaced the Egyptian monarchy, civilian officers in the military, and British influence in Egypt. Nasser created a government based on military power as the major stabilizing and progressive force in Egypt. His revolution was secular and socialist. In short, it was a statist regime dominated by the military. On Nasser’s death, Anwar Sadat replaced him. On Sadat’s assassination, Hosni Mubarak replaced him. Both of these men came from the military as Nasser did. However their foreign policy might have differed from Nasser’s, the regime remained intact.

Mubarak’s Opponents

The demands for Mubarak’s resignation come from many quarters, including from members of the regime — particularly the military — who regard Mubarak’s unwillingness to permit them to dictate the succession as endangering the regime. For some of them, the demonstrations represent both a threat and opportunity. Obviously, the demonstrations might get out of hand and destroy the regime. On the other hand, the demonstrations might be enough to force Mubarak to resign, allow a replacement — for example, Omar Suleiman, the head of intelligence who Mubarak recently appointed vice president — and thereby save the regime. This is not to say that they fomented the demonstrations, but some must have seen the demonstrations as an opportunity.

The Alexandria Church Bombing: The Plot Thickens

From Gates of Vienna

By Baron Bodissey

On New Year’s Eve a car bomb exploded outside a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt. 21 people were killed, and more than 100 were injured. All of the dead were Christians, as were all but a few of the injured.

President Hosni Mubarak was quick to condemn the “attack against Muslims and Christians”, a characterization of the event that was echoed by President Obama. The sophistication and scope of the attack were downplayed, with the Egyptian government insisting that a lone suicide bomber was responsible, rather than a remotely-detonated car bomb. When the Pope condemned the attack, the imam of Al-Azhar University accused him of interfering in Egypt’s internal affairs.

Today brought two new developments: evidence that there was careful advanced co-ordination for the blast, and reports by witnesses that the security detachment guarding the church abruptly departed about an hour before the bomb exploded.

Christians of Egypt are Massacred, and President Mubarak is Still Silent

St. Anthony's monastery in Egypt maintains the 2000-year tradition of the Coptic Church.

The Copts, Egypt's Christian minority, number approximately 12 million, about 15% of Egypt's population. Under the rule of President Mubarak, violent attacks against them run rampant. These attacks were once carried out mainly by organized Islamic terrorist groups. The climate of hatred in Egypt has worsened to the point that attacks against Christians are now carried out by their Muslim neighbors.

The latest attack took place in Naga Hamady, Upper Egypt, during the late hours of Wednesday, January 6, 2010. Drive-by gunmen opened fire from machineguns at worshippers coming out of church after celebrating Coptic Christmas mass. Seven people were instantly killed, and many others were seriously wounded.

The escalation of attacks is encouraged by the Egyptian government's lack of resolve in addressing the problem and adopting a plan of action to stop it at its roots. The climate of hatred is deeply entrenched in Egypt's mosques, the Egyptian media and the Egyptian educational system. Very seldom are killers of Copts apprehended, and when arrested, they are often released for lack of evidence, or given a very light sentence.

President Mubarak, now in power for almost 3 decades, during which 7 American presidents took office, turns a blind eye to what happens to the Coptic citizens of his country. This seems to be an attempt at appeasing the Islamists to strengthen his hold on power and pass it on to his son. Not once, did President Mubarak address his nation assuring the Copts that he cares about their problems.

Egypt, the recipient of 2 billion dollars yearly of American foreign aid since the signing of the Camp David peace treaty in1978, can not continue abusing the human rights of its Coptic Christian citizens, a basic perquisite for receiving American foreign aid.

The Coptic community asks President Obama, the US Congress and government officials, and all freedom-loving people and organizations in the US and around the world to support the right of the Copts, for protection from aggression and equality under the law.

The American Coptic community will hold a rally in support of the Copts, Christians of Egypt, on Thursday 21, 2010 from 11:00AM to 2:00PM in front of the main gate of the White House, and from 2:30 to 3:00PM in front of the Egyptian Embassy.