Egyptians suffer from a voracious appetite for making up innuendos, in the process plunging Egypt into a sea of rumours and hearsay. Some of these rumours are so farfetched and whacky that they can become an amusing source of entertainment. Other rumours, not humourous anymore, manifest into “authenticated facts” that shape the future of Egypt and affect fundamental change. The US takes the brunt of many of those bizarre stories.
Here are some of these highly unlikely but believed nonetheless stories. The US gave the Muslim Brotherhood 8 billion dollars. Whether it was after President Morsi negotiated a deal with Hamas to stop attacking Israel or whether it was received in installments, the stories change on us. Also, many Egyptians are convinced that the US has always sided with the Muslim Brotherhood wanting it to be in total command of the region; “Aren’t there MB members amidst lobbyists and in the White House? Mohammed Elibiary and Gehad El Haddad are two such good examples of MB members who have worked for the US government and hailed the MB simultaneously." Better yet, Ambassador Patterson has played a vicious role in inciting the Muslim Brotherhood against Egypt. More outrageous—President Obama’s brother is a Muslim Brotherhood member. Mainstream Egyptians have almost accepted these stories as authenticated ones.
In all fairness, the US isn’t trying to change this image. It is neither helping the Egyptians see a friendlier US nor alleviating the grim impression Egyptians have drawn. On June 30th, the US came out against this significant moment in Egypt’s modern history. True it opted not to use the word “coup,” but it didn’t side with Egyptians either.
First, four F-16 fighter jets never made it to Egypt, then the biennial joint military exercises between Egypt and the US got cancelled, and the final straw, the 1.5 billion dollar aid to Egypt was suspended. It is obvious that the US disapproves of the ousting of President Morsi and the fate of the Muslim Brotherhood. It also wants to send this admonishing message to Egypt, its army, and leaders.
That in spite of the envoys that keep appearing at Egypt’s doorstep from ex-army generals—Major General Vallely and his team—to Republicans—Backmann and her team, to State Secretary Kerry to Senators McCain and Graham.
Holding the stick from the middle, the US tries to keep the ramifications of its own decisions to a minimum. In its press release, the Department of State says the US has decided to maintain its relationship with the Egyptian government, “while recalibrating our assistance to Egypt to best advance our interests”—a backfiring statement in itself since it does not allude to the welfare of Egypt at all. Then, Kerry, again, tries to soften the blow. “Washington can revise its decision of suspending military hardware deliveries to Egypt depending on steps the military-appointed government takes toward a political transition" (http://bit.ly/19rkd6Z). This “tsk, tsk, tsk” attitude is insulting to all Egyptians and that is what baffles them. The US knows beyond a shadow of a doubt what the ousted president was up to in Egypt and where the after effects of his leadership would have taken Egypt, yet It denies Egypt the right to pursue traitors and terrorists.
And this, more than the nuances and hearsay, is what Egyptians don’t understand and are unable to forgive: intentional misreading of Egyptian rights.
In any case, the US’s turning a blind eye to the very obvious may have caused pivotal change in the Egyptian US relations. In the wake of the US suspending aid to Egypt, the Egyptian government denounced and condemned the decision. Talking to Immanpour for CNN, Nabil Fahmy, Minister of Foreign Affairs goes further. "If your friends in the region, when they're facing terrorism in particular, cannot depend on a continuous supply of equipment that deals with terrorism, then you are obviously going to raise questions in the mind of those friends about your dependability"
Fahmy continues, "And that will affect your interests …." It seems that the US is about to fail Egypt as it did in the fifties, refusing to support Nasser in his effort to build the Aswan High Dam. At that point, Gamal Abdel Nasser resorted to the Russians, who remained Egypt’s better friends until the seventies. It’s déjà vu all over again.
And the ramifications won't end there. The move will anger Persian Gulf states, push Egypt to seek assistance from U.S. rival and upend decades of close ties with the Egyptians that have been a bulwark of stability in the Middle East.
As the US intensifies its rebuke, the rift expands. And as Egypt loses, the US loses even further.
