Protests in Egypt Continue as Deadline for Ultimatum Imposed on Morsi By Army Passes

Reason

Tensions between the Egyptian army and President Morsi continue today amid mass protests. Both Morsi and the head of the army pledged their lives to their cause earlier today as the deadline imposed on Morsi by the army loomed. That deadline has passed.

From Reuters:

(Reuters) - Egypt's army commander and Islamist President Mohamed Mursi each pledged his life to defy the other as a deadline approached on Wednesday that will trigger a military takeover backed by protesters.

The military chiefs, wanting to restore order in a country racked by protests over Mursi's Islamist policies, issued a call to battle in a statement headlined "The Final Hours". They said they were willing to shed blood against "terrorists and fools" after Mursi refused to give up his elected office.

The situation in Egypt prompted Obama to call three of the major players involved in the crisis, perhaps hoping to use the billions Egypt receives every year from the U.S. as leverage. Unsurprisingly, many of the demonstrators in Cairo are not Obama fans, given his policy towards Morsi.

It has recently been reported that military officers have occupied the newsroom in Egypt's state TV building and that Morsi has offered a consensus government. 

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Comments

[SIV]

Hopefully they are just looking for the right lamppost.

[Rich]

With this many people looking, it shouldn't take too long.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Once again, Obama, the worldly globe-trotter whose deep insights into the Muslim world based on first-hand experience; the man who was supposed to usher in a new golden age of American foreign policy, has given us another blunder of tiantic proportions.

Based on his extreme arrogance, profound ignorance, and utter moral cowardice, his full-throated support of the draconian rule of Egyptian al-Ikwhan al-Muslimun led to the alienation of the "moderate Muslim" Egyptian population, the very potential founders and denizens of the secular, "Western-friendly" future Syriana that is the wet-dream of every State Department diplomat and analyst.

[A Frayed Knot]

I'm no Obama lover, but I think you're over estimating his power and not assigning enough agency to the the Egyptian people. The Egyptians elected the Ikwhan with the even more draconian Nour party coming in second. The Egyptians simply got the government they deserved. Had the Brotherhood had not been completely incompetent, the Egyptians probably wouldn't have cared about the accompanying fundamentalism. But alas, you can't feed a massive population on fear, paranoia and hatred.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I'm not implying that the US had a hand in the election of Morsi. What I'm arguing is that the support given to Morsi and his crew after they were elected, which went above and beyond the call of duty, in my opinion, only served to alienate the section of the Egyptian population who should have been our natural allies in the region. Thus, now, when the tables have turned, we had already squandered an opportunity before we ever had a chance of exploiting it.

[SugarFree]

Soundtrack

[Paul.]

Arab Spring II, the Revenge of Arab Spring!

[A Frayed Knot]

How about Arab Spring II: Tamarod Boogaloo