The Choice in Egypt

(Washington Post) Charles Krauthammer - In Egypt today the choice is binary: the country will be ruled by the Muslim Brotherhood or by the military. We'd have preferred there be a democratic alternative. Unfortunately, there is none. The Brotherhood offered nothing but incompetent, intolerant, increasingly dictatorial rule. In one year, Morsi managed to squander 85 years of Brotherhood prestige garnered in opposition by persecuting journalists and activists, granting himself the unchallenged power to rule by decree, enshrining a sectarian Islamist constitution and systematically trying to seize the instruments of state power. As if that wasn't enough, after its overthrow the Brotherhood showed itself to be the party that, when angry, burns churches. The U.S. administration is right to deplore excessive violence and urge reconciliation. But let's not fool ourselves into believing this is possible in any near future. For now, we should not be cutting off aid, civilian or military, as many in Congress are demanding. It will have no effect, buy no influence and win no friends.


2013-08-23 00:00:00

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