Thousands March in Egyptian Capital Calling for President’s Ouster

[Magda Hassan]

Egypt shuts down Al Jazeera bureau
english.aljazeera.netNetwork's licences cancelled and accreditation of staff in Cairo withdrawn by order of information minister.

[David Guyatt]

There are deep politics, and at a more subterranean level, there are deep occult politics.

We know this to be the case because of the deeply political occult Catholic Martinist lodge - of the Papus, AMORC and Synarchy variety.

Not to mention the far older and very occult Order of Knights Templar that has waged bloody and pitiless war on behalf of the Church for many hundreds of years - and exists still, having been forced underground just over 700 years ago. But the current incumbent of St. Peter's throne, Benedict XVI, formally apologized to them in 2007 for their suppression and persecution.

And I suppose, therefore, it shouldn't surprise us that deep occult doctrines filter up into secret societies like SMOM and Opus Dei etc., and inform their world perspectives.

[Magda Hassan]

Hundreds of judges have joined the protesters in Tahrir Square.
US says all US citizens to leave immediately.
Turkey have flow in military planes to take their citizens home.
Ministry of Interior evacuated under fire.

[Magda Hassan]

38 Muslim Brotherhood members have been released. By whom? And why?

[David Guyatt]

But timely...

[Peter Lemkin]

USG tells all Americans to leave Egypt by tomorrow.....what do they know [or plan] that we don't know?! At the moment, jet fighters are flying at high speeds and very very low over tens of thousands of demonstrators in the main Cairo square and there are reports that the missing security police are surrounding the square...something is about to happen....stay tuned!

[Paul Rigby]

The CIA contemplates its alternatives:

"For myself, I hope that each [CIA chief of station] and/or the ambassador are writing commentaries for Washington to disabuse them of the idea that any of this unrest is going to lead to secular democracies in the region. We are either going to get either more ruthless dictatorships or--if they fall--a year or two of chaotic governments with patinas of democracy until the Islamists take over," Scheuer said,"


Spytalk: What should the CIA do in Egypt? By Jeff Stein

Posted at 1:45 PM ET, 01/28/2011

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/spy-tal...egypt.html

[David Guyatt]

Part 2

Exile in Saudi Arabia

So when Nasser threatened to nationalise the Suez Canal, so important as a conduit for oil cargo to Europe and elsewhere, the Rothschilds employed their assassins from the Muslim Brotherhood against him. The Rothschilds had maintained an interest in the canal, ever since Baron Lionel de Rothschild financed his friend's Bejamin Disraeli's purchase of the canal for the British government in 1875.

When Brotherhood members fired shots at Nasser in 1954, the group was forcibly suppressed by the government, with thousands of members being imprisoned. Six of its leaders were tried and executed for treason and many others were imprisoned. Interrogations revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood functioned virtually as a German Intelligence unit. As well, as divulged by Copeland:

Nor was that all. Sound beatings of the Moslem Brotherhood organizers who had been arrested revealed that the organization had been thoroughly penetrated, at the top, by the British, American, French and Soviet intelligence services, any one of which could either make active use of it or blow it up, whichever best suited its purposes. Important lesson: fanaticism is no insurance against corruption; indeed, the two are highly compatible.117

The CIA also became concerned over Nasser's leanings towards the Soviet Union. Great Britain and the United States had originally agreed to help finance the first stage of Nasser's Aswan High Dam project. Although, in 1956, the U.S. secretary of state John Foster Dulles, cancelled the U.S. offer, and the next day Britain followed suit. Five days later, Nasser announced the nationalisation of the Suez Canal, promising that the tolls Egypt collected would in five years pay for the dam.

In response to Nasser's nationalisation of the Canal, the United Kingdom and France, with the help of Israel, invaded the Sinai and much of Port Said, sending the Egyptian military into retreat. However, due to pressure from both the United States and the Soviet Union, the British and the French had to withdraw. Though Israel did achieve the cessation of Egyptian raids, Nasser was hailed as having achieved a victory for the Arab world.

Fleeing members of the Muslim Brotherhood were then shuttled to the CIA's ally, Saudi Arabia. When John Loftus, a Justice Department official in the eighties, was permitted to peruse classified government documents, he discovered that the British Secret Service convinced American intelligence that the Arab Nazis of the Muslim Brotherhood would be indispensable as "freedom fighters" in preparation for the next major war, which was anticipated against the Soviet Union. Kim Philby, the Soviet agent who infiltrated the British Secret Service, and the son of "Abdullah" Philby, helped the US acquire these Arab Nazis, then being expelled from Egypt, who were afterwards sent to Saudi Arabia. There, according to Loftus, "they were given jobs as religion education instructors."118

Thus, beginning in the 1960s, the Salafi became more formally allied to the Wahhabis, who became the principal patrons of the Brotherhood, which set up branches in most Arab states. With the CIA's tacit approval, the Saudis provided funds for Brotherhood members who joined the anti-Nasser insurgency in Yemen in 1962.

"Like any other truly effective covert action, this one was strictly off the books," wrote Robert Baer, a nineteen-year veteran of the CIA, in Sleeping with the Devil. "There was no CIA funding, no memorandum of notification to Congress. Not a penny came out of the Treasury to fund it. In other words, no record." Describing the Brotherhood as a "silent ally" that provided a "cheap no-American casualties way" to do "our dirty work in Yemen, Afghanistan, and plenty of other places," he explained, "All the White House had to do was give a wink and a nod to countries harboring the Muslim Brothers." 119

In 1962, with CIA encouragement, the Saudis established an organisation called the Muslim World League. Underwritten initially by several donors, including Aramco, then a CIA collaborator, the League established a powerful international presence, with representatives in 120 countries. It was headed by then chief Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed ibn Ibrahim al-Sheikh, a lineal descendant of Mohammed ibn Abdul Wahhab, and the presidency remains vested in the Saudi Mufti to this day.
Included among its eight members were important representatives of the Salafi Muslim Brotherhood: Said Ramadan, son-in-law of Hasan al Banna (and whose own son Tariq Ramdan is now being groomed as a new reformist scholar for Muslims in the West), Maulana Abul Ala Maududi, leader of the Brotherhood offshoot Jamati Islami of Pakistan, and Maulana Abul Hasan Nadvi of India

Footnotes:

117 The Game of Nations, p. 184.
118 Loftus, John, "The Muslim Brotherhood, Nazis and Al-Qaeda". Jewish Community News, October 4, 2004.
119 Lee, Martin A. "Not a prayer: then as now, American schemes to change Islam have been dangerous folly". Harper's Magazine, June 2004.

[Peter Lemkin]

ElBaradei about [as I write this] to speak to the assembled crowds in the main square in Cairo......the denouement is near....

One of the stranger things I've heard - and apparently true - is the rump government that remains warns that the security police will be back throughout Cairo tomorrow with the EXCEPTION in Tehrir square....very odd, indeed and not going to please protester nor secret policeman....and only going to make for conflict of protesters on the way to protest.

Interesting that some of the citizen street 'watch' groups trying to stop looting found some of those with cars full of looted things were secret police. :lol: Ever was thus....usually they do it more surreptitiously.

Ah....have such mixed feelings...as I feel as in all the color and other revolutions it was HONEST disappointment to disgust of the People that was harnessed...but all too often it was orchestrated or co-opted by the secret services for TPTB in the USA and West. The Egyptians have long, long been in need of regime change and democracy, but not one run from outside again. Ah, I hope against hope this one will be allowed to develop as the Egyptians want and not as some other Nation[s] want.

[Peter Lemkin]

The Protest Movement in Egypt: "Dictators" do not Dictate, They Obey Orders

by Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research, January 29, 2011

The Mubarak regime could collapse in the a face of a nationwide protest movement... What prospects for Egypt and the Arab World?

"Dictators" do not dictate, they obey orders. This is true in Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria.

Dictators are invariably political puppets. Dictators do not decide.

President Hosni Mubarak was a faithful servant of Western economic interests and so was Ben Ali.

The national government is the object of the protest movement.

The objective is to unseat the puppet rather than the puppet-master.

The slogans in Egypt are "Down with Mubarak, Down with the Regime". No anti-American posters have been reported... The overriding and destructive influence of the USA in Egypt and throughout the Middle East remains unheralded.

The foreign powers which operate behind the scenes are shielded from the protest movement.

No significant political change will occur unless the issue of foreign interference is meaningfully addressed by the protest movement.

The US embassy in Cairo is an important political entity, invariably overshadowing the national government. The Embassy is not a target of the protest movement.

In Egypt, a devastating IMF program was imposed in 1991 at the height of the Gulf War. It was negotiated in exchange for the annulment of Egypt's multibillion dollar military debt to the US as well as its participation in the war. The resulting deregulation of food prices, sweeping privatisation and massive austerity measures led to the impoverishment of the Egyptian population and the destabilization of its economy. The Mubarak government was praised as a model "IMF pupil".

The role of Ben Ali's government in Tunisia was to enforce the IMF's deadly economic medicine, which over a period of more than twenty years served to destabilize the national economy and impoverish the Tunisian population. Over the last 23 years, economic and social policy in Tunisia has been dictated by the Washington Consensus.

Both Hosni Mubarak and Ben Ali stayed in power because their governments obeyed and effectively enforced the diktats of the IMF.

From Pinochet and Videla to Baby Doc, Ben Ali and Mubarak, dictators have been installed by Washington. Historically in Latin America, dictators were instated through a series of US sponsored military coups. In todays World, they are installed through "free and fair elections" under the surveillance of the "international community".

Our message to the protest movement:

Actual decisions are taken in Washington DC, at the US State Department, at the Pentagon, at Langley, headquarters of the CIA. at H Street NW, the headquarters of the World Bank and the IMF.

The relationship of "the dictator" to foreign interests must be addressed. Unseat the political puppets but do not forget to target the "real dictators".

The protest movement should focus on the real seat of political authority; it should target the US embassy, the delegation of the European Union, the national missions of the IMF and the World Bank.

Meaningful political change can only be ensured if the neoliberal economic policy agenda is thrown out.

Regime Replacement

If the protest movement fails to address the role of foreign powers including pressures exerted by "investors", external creditors and international financial institutions, the objective of national sovereignty will not be achieved. In which case, what will occur is a narrow process of "regime replacement", which ensures political continuity.

"Dictators" are seated and unseated. When they are politically discredited and no longer serve the interests of their US sponsors, they are replaced by a new leader, often recruited from within the ranks of the political opposition.

In Tunisia, the Obama administration has already positioned itself. It intends to play a key role in the "democratization program" (i.e. the holding of so-called fair elections). It also intends to use the political crisis as a means to weaken the role of France and consolidate its position in North Africa:

"The United States, which was quick to size up the groundswell of protest on the streets of Tunisia, is trying to press its advantage to push for democratic reforms in the country and further afield.

The top-ranking US envoy for the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman, was the first foreign official to arrive in the country after president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted on January 14 and swiftly called for reforms. He said on Tuesday only free and fair elections would strengthen and give credibility to the north African state's embattled leadership.

"I certainly expect that we'll be using the Tunisian example" in talks with other Arab governments, Assistant Secretary of State Feltman added.

He was dispatched to the north African country to offer US help in the turbulent transition of power, and met with Tunisian ministers and civil society figures.

Feltman travels to Paris on Wednesday to discuss the crisis with French leaders, boosting the impression that the US is leading international support for a new Tunisia, to the detriment of its former colonial power, France. ...

Western nations had long supported Tunisia's ousted leadership, seeing it as a bulwark against Islamic militants in the north Africa region.

In 2006, the then US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking in Tunis, praised the country's evolution.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton nimbly stepped in with a speech in Doha on January 13 warning Arab leaders to allow their citizens greater freedoms or risk extremists exploiting the situation.

"There is no doubt that the United States is trying to position itself very quickly on the good side,..." " AFP: US helping shape outcome of Tunisian uprising emphasis added

Will Washington be successful in instating a new puppet regime?

This very much depends on the ability of the protest movement to address the insidious role of the US in the country's internal affairs.

The overriding powers of empire are not mentioned. In a bitter irony, president Obama has expressed his support for the protest movement.

Many people within the protest movement are led to believe that president Obama is committed to democracy and human rights, and is supportive of the opposition's resolve to unseat a dictator, which was installed by the US in the first place.

Cooptation of Opposition Leaders

The cooptation of the leaders of major opposition parties and civil society organizations in anticipation of the collapse of an authoritarian puppet government is part of Washington's design, applied in different regions of the World.

The process of cooptation is implemented and financed by US based foundations including the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Freedom House (FH). Both FH and the NED have links to the US Congress. the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and the US business establishment. Both the NED and FH are known to have ties to the CIA.

The NED is actively involved in Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria. Freedom House supports several civil society organizations in Egypt.

"The NED was established by the Reagan administration after the CIA's role in covertly funding efforts to overthrow foreign governments was brought to light, leading to the discrediting of the parties, movements, journals, books, newspapers and individuals that received CIA funding. ... As a bipartisan endowment, with participation from the two major parties, as well as the AFL-CIO and US Chamber of Commerce, the NED took over the financing of foreign overthrow movements, but overtly and under the rubric of "democracy promotion." (Stephen Gowans, January « 2011 "What's left"

While the US has supported the Mubarak government for the last thirty years, US foundations with ties to the US State department and the Pentagon have actively supported the political opposition including the civil society movement. According to Freedom House: "Egyptian civil society is both vibrant and constrained. There are hundreds of non-governmental organizations devoted to expanding civil and political rights in the country, operating in a highly regulated environment." (Freedom House Press Releases).

In a bitter irony, Washington supports the Mubarak dictatorship, including its atrocities, while also backing and financing its detractors, through the activities of FH, the NED, among others.

Under the auspices of Freedom House, Egyptian dissidents and opponents of Hosni Mubarak were received in May 2008 by Condoleezza Rice at the State Department and the US Congress. They also met White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who was "the principal White House foreign policy adviser" during George W. Bush's second term.

Freedom House's effort to empower a new generation of advocates has yielded tangible results and the New Generation program in Egypt has gained prominence both locally and internationally. Egyptian visiting fellows from all civil society groups received [May 2008] unprecedented attention and recognition, including meetings in Washington with US Secretary of State, the National Security Advisor, and prominent members of Congress. In the words of Condoleezza Rice, the fellows represent the "hope for the future of Egypt."

Freedom House, http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm...program=84 (emphasis added).

Political Double Talk: Chatting with "Dictators", Mingling with "Dissidents"

The Egyptian pro-democracy delegation to the State Department was described by Condoleezza Rice as "The Hope for the Future of Egypt".

In May 2009, Hillary Clinton met a delegation of Egyptian dissidents, several of which had met Condoleezza Rice a year earlier. These high level meetings were held a week prior to Obama's visit to Egypt:


U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the work of a group of Egyptian civil society activists she met with today and said it was in Egypt's interest to move toward democracy and to exhibit more respect for human rights.

The 16 activists met with Clinton and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman in Washington at the end of a two-month fellowship organized by Freedom House's New Generation program.

The fellows raised concern about what they perceived as the United States government distancing itself from Egyptian civil society and called on President Obama to meet with young independent civil society activists when he visits Cairo next week. They also urged the Obama administration to continue to provide political and financial support to Egyptian civil society and to help open the space for nongovernmental organizations which is tightly restricted under Egypt's longstanding emergency law.

The fellows told Clinton that momentum was already building in Egypt for increased civil and human rights and that U.S. support at this time was urgently needed. They stressed that civil society represents a moderate and peaceful "third way" in Egypt, an alternative to authoritarian elements in the government and those that espouse theocratic rule. (Freedom House, May 2009)

During their fellowship, the activists spent a week in Washington receiving training in advocacy and getting an inside look at the way U.S. democracy works. After their training, the fellows were matched with civil society organizations throughout the country where they shared experiences with U.S. counterparts. The activists will wrap up their program ... by visiting U.S. government officials, members of Congress, media outlets and think tanks." (Freedom House, May 2009, emphasis added)

These opposition civil society groups --which are currently playing an important role in the protest movement-- are supported and funded by the US. They indelibly serve US interests.

The invitation of Egyptian dissidents to the State Department and the US Congress also purports to instil a feeling of commitment and allegiance to American democratic values. America is presented as a model of Freedom and Justice. Obama is upheld as a "Role Model".

Egyptian dissidents, Fellows of Freedom House in Washington DC (2008)

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks with "Egyptian activists promoting freedom and
democracy", prior to meetings at the State Department in Washington, DC, May 28, 2009.

Compare the two pictures 2008 delegation received by Condoleezza Rice versus 2009 delegation
meeting Hillary Clinton in May 2009.

Hillary Clinton and Hosni Mubarak in Sharm El Sheik, September 2010

Condoleezza Rice chats with Hosni Mubarak? " Hope for the Future of Egypt".

Condoleezza Rice addresses Freedom House. 4th from left

The Puppet Masters Support the Protest Movement against their own Puppets

The puppet masters support dissent against their own puppets?

Its called "political leveraging", "manufacturing dissent". Support the dictator as well as the opponents of the dictator as a means of controlling the political opposition.

These actions on the part of Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy, on behalf of the Bush and Obama administrations, ensure that the US funded civil society opposition will not direct their energies against the puppet masters behind the Mubarak regime, namely the US government.

These US funded civil society organizations act as a "Trojan Horse" which becomes embedded within the protest movement. They protect the interests of the puppet masters. They ensure that the grassroots protest movement will not address the broader issue of foreign interference in the affairs of sovereign states.

The Facebook Twitter Bloggers Supported and Financed by Washington

In relation to the protest movement in Egypt, several civil society groups funded by US based foundations have led the protest on Twitter and Facebook:

"Activists from Egypt's Kifaya (Enough) movement - a coalition of government opponents - and the 6th of April Youth Movement organized the protests on the Facebook and Twitter social networking websites. Western news reports said Twitter appeared to be blocked in Egypt later Tuesday." (See Voice of America, ,Egypt Rocked by Deadly Anti-Government Protests





Reads; Kifaya (Enough)

The Kifaya movement, which organized one of the first protests directed against the Mubarak regime in late 2004, is supported by the US based International Center for Non-Violent Conflict . Kifaya is a broad-based movement which has also taken a stance on Palestine and US interventionism in the region.

In turn, Freedom House has been involved in promoting and training the Middle East North Africa Facebook and Twitter blogs:

Freedom House fellows acquired skills in civic mobilization, leadership, and strategic planning, and benefit from networking opportunities through interaction with Washington-based donors, international organizations and the media. After returning to Egypt, the fellows received small grants to implement innovative initiatives such as advocating for political reform through Facebook and SMS messaging.

http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm...program=84 (emphasis added)

From February 27 to March 13 [2010], Freedom House hosted 11 bloggers from the Middle East and North Africa [from different civil society organizations] for a two-week Advanced New Media Study Tour in Washington, D.C. The Study Tour provided the bloggers with training in digital security, digital video making, message development and digital mapping. While in D.C., the Fellows also participated in a Senate briefing, and met with high-level officials at USAID, State [Department] and Congress as well as international media including Al-Jazeera and the Washington Post.http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm...84&item=87 emphasis added

One can easily apprehend the importance attached by the US administration to this bloggers' "training program", which is coupled with high level meetings at the US Senate, the Congress, the State Department, etc.

The role of the Facebook Twitter social media as an expression of dissent, must be carefully evaluated in the light of the links of several Egyptian civil society organizations to Freedom House (FH), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the US State Department.

BBC News World (broadcast in the Middle East) quoting Egyptian internet messages has reported that "the US has been sending money to pro-democracy groups." (BBC News World, January 29, 2010). According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, quoting a secret US embassy document (Jan 29, 2011):


"The protests in Egypt are being driven by the April 6 youth movement, a group on Facebook that has attracted mainly young and educated members opposed to Mr Mubarak. The group has about 70,000 members and uses social networking sites to orchestrate protests and report on their activities.

The documents released by WikiLeaks reveal US Embassy officials [in Cairo] were in regular contact with the activist throughout 2008 and 2009, considering him one of their most reliable sources for information about human rights abuses." (emphasis added)

The Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt constitutes the largest segment of the opposition to president Mubarak. According to reports, The Muslim Brotherhood dominates the protest movement.

While there is a constitutional ban against religious political parties Brotherhood members elected to Egypt's parliament as "independents" constitute the largest parliamentary block.

The Brotherhood, however, does not constitute a direct threat to Washington's economic and strategic interests in the region. Western intelligence agencies have a longstanding history of collaboration with the Brotherhood. Britain's support of the Brotherhood instrumented through the British Secret Service dates back to the 1940s. Starting in the 1950s, according to former intelligence official William Baer, "The CIA [funnelled] support to the Muslim Brotherhood because of "the Brotherhood's commendable capability to overthrow Nasser."1954-1970: CIA and the Muslim Brotherhood Ally to Oppose Egyptian President Nasser, These covert links to the CIA were maintained in the post-Nasser era.

Concluding Remarks

The removal of Hosni Mubarak has, for several years, been on the drawing board of US foreign policy.

Regime replacement serves to ensure continuity, while providing the illusion that meaningful political change has occurred.

Washington's agenda for Egypt has been to "hijack the protest movement" and replace president Hosni Mubarak with a new compliant puppet head of state. Washington's objective is to sustain the interests of foreign powers, to uphold the neoliberal economic agenda which has served to impoverish the Egyptian population.

From Washington's standpoint, regime replacement no longer requires the installation of an authoritarian military regime as in the heyday of US imperialism, It can be implemented by co-opting political parties, including the Left, financing civil society groups, infiltrating the protest movement and manipulating national elections.

With reference to the protest movement in Egypt, President Obama stated in a January 28 video broadcast on Youtube: "The Government Should Not Resort to Violence". The more fundamental question is what is the source of that violence? Egypt is the largest recipient of US military aid after Israel. The Egyptian military is considered to be the power base of the Mubarak regime:

"The country's army and police forces are geared to the teeth thanks to more than $1 billion in military aid a year from Washington. ... When the US officially describes Egypt as "an important ally" it is inadvertently referring to Mubarak's role as a garrison outpost for US military operations and dirty war tactics in the Middle East and beyond. There is clear evidence from international human rights groups that countless "suspects" rendered by US forces in their various territories of (criminal) operations are secretly dumped in Egypt for "deep interrogation". The country serves as a giant "Guantanamo" of the Middle East, conveniently obscured from US public interest and relieved of legal niceties over human rights." (Finian Cunningham, Egypt: US-Backed Repression is Insight for American Public, Global Research, January 28, 2010).

America is no "Role Model" of Democratization for the Middle East. US military presence imposed on Egypt and the Arab World for more than 20 years, coupled with "free market" reforms are the root cause of State violence.

America's intent is to use the protest movement to install a new regime.

The People's Movement should redirect its energies: Identify the relationship between America and "the dictator". Unseat America's political puppet but do not forget to target the "real dictators".

Shunt the process of regime change.

Dismantle the neoliberal reforms.

Close down US military bases in the Arab World.

Establish a truly sovereign government.