Clinton Arrives in Egypt for Meeting With New President

[bemildred]

Source: NYT

CAIRO — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton landed here on Saturday to meet for the first time with the Egypt’s new president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

State Department officials said on Saturday that Mrs. Clinton’s visit was meant to demonstrate American recognition of Egypt’s first democratically elected president. It will also continue the tentative mutual outreach between the Obama administration and the Muslim Brotherhood, the 84-year-old progenitor of Islamic political movements and historically a sharp critic of American policy in the region.

But Mrs. Clinton is arriving at a delicate moment, in the midst of the showdown between Mr. Morsi and Egypt’s top generals. The generals, who took over at the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, dissolved Parliament and tightened their grip on power on the eve of Mr. Morsi’s election, are digging in just at the moment that they had pledged to transfer control to civilians. And last week Mr. Morsi sought to assert his own authority as president by issuing a decree reinstating the legislature, starting a new skirmish in a struggle for power that is still playing out in the courts and the streets.

And while many Americans may still be surprised to see Mrs. Clinton shaking hands with an Egyptian president from the Muslim Brotherhood, she now faces protests here called by Egyptian Christians and secular politicians who are accusing Washington, implausibly, of conspiring with the Brotherhood to help the Islamist take power from the generals.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/world/middleeast/clinton-arrives-in-egypt-for-meeting-with-new-president.html

[asjr]

1. Hilary Clinton's stamina and courage for our

country absolutely overwhelms me. She is instructive rather than destructive and deserves a medal a day for being who she is--a true patriot.

[antigop]

2. Oh, brother....she is NOT a true patriot. She's DLC for crying out loud.

[FarPoint]

8. I'm sensing you don't like Secretary Clinton....

I admire her more and more each day....that's me.

[antigop]

10. so great--- you admire someone who sold out the American worker...whatever floats your boat. n/t

[FarPoint]

11. My disgust is all toward republicans....

I support The Obama Administration and the Democratic Party. Trashing Hillary Clinton for something the republicans and mega corporations are solely responsible for is only diminishing the value of this Administration. Such negativity shared 3 months from a Presidential Election on a Democratic forum is essentially sabotage. It's also old trash talk I often heard from the GOP minions just a few years ago.

That opinion is what exactly floats my boat.

[antigop]

13. Hillary supports what the corporations are doing...as show in her own words in the video. n/t

[antigop]

14. but thanks for the kick so more people can watch the video n/t

[antigop]

3. Just ask tech workers in America how "patriotic" she is.

Her own words..

[KoKo]

15. This doesn't seem a "current video" of her. Her hairstyle has changed...

the world has changed.

She might have felt that then...but this is now. It's a world of difference, possibly.

[antigop]

17. Koko, you forgot the sarcasm smilie. Hillary's track record is well known by those willing to look.

[leveymg]

4. On the other hand, she continues to feed the "Friends of Syria" debacle

and to cooperate in the inflow of guns, money and Sunni Jihadists that is stoking the civil war there. The US has become actively complicit in violating the arms embargo. Tensions with Iran continue to escalate toward conflict.

She's not taken a balanced approach to the region, and her statements of concern about human rights seem hypocritical, at best.

It's a difficult job, granted, but her performance has been underwhelming.

[antigop]

5. watch it,leveymg...you might be called a "hater" or something. n/t

[asjr]

6. No, leveymg need not worry. I don't call anyone

a hater for stating their beliefs. But I do realize not all have the same thought as I do.

[leveymg]

7. Call me ambivalent.

I have a question for anyone who wants to answer it: Why is the US getting more deeply involved in what is essentially an ongoing Sunni-Shi'ia religious war in the region? What's at stake? Is it a good thing for the United States?

I am deeply concerned that, a decade ago, there was an important lesson some of us apparently didn't learn about the Saudis and other presumed "allies" in that part of the world. We seem to be in alliance again with the same elements of Saudi intelligence that were running al-Qaeda, and judging from Syria, their methods haven't changed.

Personally, my biggest worry is that the potential for blowback and escalation is underappreciated, and there is no consensus for the enormous costs that will be paid for this round of conflict in the Arab and Persian worlds as we allow it to escalate. There isn't even honest discussion of the issues coming from this Administration, and they seem to be proceeding down a very dangerous path without even an open, public discussion of what is at stake.

If you liked the wars in the Middle East, 9/11, the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, you are going to love our new wars in Syria, Lebanon and Iran.

[antigop]

9. watch it, leveymg....you are asking good questions...they don't like you questioning...n/t

[KoKo]

16. I think you pose valid questions..but, alas...the answers will not be

here. But, thanks for asking the questions.

[leveymg]

18. Until these basic national interest issues are adequately addressed, it remains bad foreign policy.

[bemildred]

20. We always double down.

You'd have to throw them all out. Then somebody might think it over.

[alp227]

12. NYT also reports: Egypt’s New President Is Being Undercut by State-Run Media

Egypt’s state news media, the traditionally admiring chronicler of Egypt’s head of state, are at war with the new president.

To be sure, state broadcasters and newspapers here still appear to celebrate President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood as Egypt’s first democratically elected leader. That is also the official position of Egypt’s top generals who took power at the ouster of Hosni Mubarak and now insist that Mr. Morsi’s swearing-in fulfilled their promise of a civilian democracy.

But as Mr. Morsi moved this week to challenge the generals, the state media have quickly allied with the generals, persistently undercutting the new president while still ostensibly honoring his position.

That apparently contradictory result has made it clear who still holds the real power over the Egyptian bureaucracy. On Tuesday, for example, Mr. Morsi summoned back into session the democratically elected Parliament that the generals had dissolved after a hurried court ruling. But the headline in the newspaper Al Ahram reported only the statement of the ruling generals: “The armed forces belong to the people and will remain on the side of the constitution and legitimacy.”

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/world/middleeast/president-morsi-of-egypt-is-undercut-by-state-run-media.html?pagewanted=all

[bemildred]

19. Well, yeah. seems obvious that MB and the military are still in a pissing contest.

I'm guessing there is a certain lack of trust. MB fears more police state tactics, and the military fears retribution.