The Sinai, terror, and the US response to Egypt
Is it wise to let concern about terrorism trump all?
Is it wise to let concern about terrorism trump all?
Wayne White, a former senior intelligence analyst for the US State Department focused on the Middle East, writes of the dangers of putting short term security concerns in Egypt ahead of human rights, and the possible long-term damage the US could do to its interests by "actively taking sides in a conflict pitting a repressive regime against armed opposition."
Mr. White's piece focuses on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and President Obama's recent decision to deliver Apache attack helicopters to the generals now running the country, who said they needed them to fight Al Qaeda-style terrorism in the area, which borders both the Gaza Strip and Israel. He acknowledges that Egypt has a real problem, but worries about the damage that could be done by reverting to the longstanding pattern of US policy when it comes to Egypt.
He connects the terrorism-first thinking on Egypt to the Obama administration's mishandling of Iraq. There, Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has systematically purged Sunni Arabs from government, using trumped up terrorism charges to arrest or kill members of the minority sect. While the US has been aware of the dangers of an increasingly authoritarian and chauvinistic government in Baghdad, it hasn't had much leverage to get Maliki or those around him to change his course.
When the predictable happened 鈥� a resurgence of support for Al Qaeda in Sunni Arab communities 鈥� the Obama administration effectively rewarded Maliki for his dangerous policies of exclusion with the delivery of advanced weapons to fight an insurgency his policies had helped breath back to life. US Hellfire missiles have since rained down on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS - formerly Al Qaeda in Iraq) and the Sunni Arab communities that have supported them.聽
What's the problem with this? White writes: "The US risks becoming a far more important target of extremist groups on the receiving end of regime repression than is the case now."
In 2009, President Obama delivered a speech in Cairo that was meant to signal a major shift in US policy toward the region and the Muslim world more generally. He said then:
At the moment, Obama is charting a much different course.