Moussa: Egyptian Intervention in Libya

Patrick Kingsley of the Guardian reports on a statement released on August 3rd by Amr Moussa of Egypt:  

Egypt should consider the possibility of a military response to the unrest in neighbouring Libya, one of the country's elder statesmen has argued, prompting speculation in Egyptian media that Cairo is mulling an armed intervention.

Amr Moussa, Egypt's former foreign minister and former secretary-general of the Arab League, said in a statement on Sunday that the current upheaval in Libya, which lies on Egypt's western border, had major implications for Egyptian national security.

"The situation in Libya is a major concern for Egypt, Libya's neighbouring countries, and the Arab world at large," Moussa said.

"Statelets, sects and extremist factions in Libya directly threaten Egypt's national security. I call for a broad public debate to sensitise public opinion to the risks, and to build the necessary support in case we have to exercise our right to self-defence."

Moussa's prominence - and his closeness to Egypt's president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, for whom he has at times acted as an unofficial mouthpiece – has led to speculation that an Egyptian offensive in Libya is on the table.

"Libya burns, and Egypt approaches a military solution", read the front page of al-Masry al-Youm, one of the country's largest private broadsheets.

Not everyone, however, was convinced. "A seasoned politician should know the limits of state intervention in other countries, even if they represent a threat to us," the security analyst and former army officer Khaled Okasha told al-Watan newspaper.

Moussa's statement builds on Egyptian fears that factional fighting in Libya, which has forced most western diplomats to flee the country, could spill over the border. Last month, those fears were compounded by the killing of 21 Egyptian soldiers near the border with Libya.

Concerns have been deepened in recent days by 13,000 Egyptian migrant workers who have fled to Libya's Tunisian border, many with frightening stories of their treatment by Libyan militias.

The upheaval has strengthened Sisi's position in Egypt, where his supporters believe strong leadership is the only alternative to the chaos in Libya and Syria, even if it comes at the cost of everyday freedoms.

Egypt's foreign affairs spokesman declined to comment on Moussa's statement. Another government source said they knew of no immediate plans to intervene in Libya.

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Patrick Kinsley, “Egypt should consider military action in Libya, says senior statesmen,” The Guardian, August 4, 2014

Egyptian Columnist: Sue the Bastards!

From the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) comes this translation of a piece by an Egyptian columnist, Ahmad Al-Gamal. Writing March 11, 2014, Al-Gamal demanded that Israel, Turkey, Britain, and France be sued for damages. The column offers a good though somewhat overstated summation of all the things that have been done wrong to Egypt over the millennia. There seems to be a general equality in odium as between Israel, Turkey, and Britain in the author’s perspective. It is interesting that he singles out Erdogan, Netanyahu, and Cameron without slamming on Obama. What, no lawsuit against the USA? 

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I tirelessly reiterate my demand to utilize all measures of the law and of customary law, and all ethical principles, to receive compensation for what the Israelis, Turks, French and English took from us. And if you ask me whether the Turks can be placed in the same category as [the Israelis, French and English], I will reply: Yes, absolutely. Erdogan, and his party, stream and orientation, are just as dangerous to Egypt and Arabism as the Zionists and imperialists. Had the [Turks] been in our place, and had we done to them what they did to us, they wouldn't have left us alone for a moment without demanding their right many times over.

We want compensation for the [Ten] Plagues that were inflicted upon [us] as a result of the curses that the Jews' ancient forefathers [cast] upon our ancient forefathers, who did not deserve to pay for the mistake that Egypt's ruler at the time, Pharaoh as the Torah calls him, committed. For what is written in the Torah proves that it was Pharaoh who oppressed the Children of Israel, rather than the Egyptian people. [But] they inflicted upon us the plague of locusts that didn't leave anything behind them; the plague that transformed the Nile's waters into blood, so nobody could drink of them for a long time; the plague of darkness that kept the world dark day and night; the plague of frogs; and the plague of the killing of the firstborn, namely every first offspring born to woman or beast, and so on. . . .[The author goes on in this vein regarding the Jews for some considerable time]

Turkey Must Compensate Egypt For The Backwardness They Inflicted Upon It

About Turkey, Al-Gamal wrote: "As for the Turks, we must demand [from them] adequate compensation for the economic, social, cultural, intellectual and political backwardness that their presence in our midst imposed upon us, for the world during those centuries [i.e., during the Ottoman period] made tremendous progress in all areas. We want compensation from the Turks for the invasion of our country and for the attendant oppression and aggression, and for taking all our human capital: scholars, builders, tentmakers, carpenters, coal miners, blacksmiths and all skilled artisans and forcing them to go to Istanbul to build palaces, mosques, and the like. We also want compensation for the antiquities plundered by the Turks, and especially for some relics of the Prophet and for stolen manuscripts and books. This theft and plunder lasted for centuries, from the beginning of the 16th century until the early 20th century.

Likewise, we want compensation from the Turks for damaging the Egyptian psyche through their racism and haughtiness, their contempt for Egypt and the Egyptians, and their disgraceful treatment of the peasant as someone who [merely] plows, sows and reaps – although the harvest from the sweat of his brow filled the indolent Ottoman stomachs. We also want damages for the Turkish-Zionist plot hatched during the 1950s and 1960s, when Egypt led the Arab and global liberation movement and opposed the plans of the imperialist alliance, [an alliance] in which Turkey and the Hebrew state constituted vital components."

The British Owe Egypt Damages For 72 Years Of Occupation, The French For Napoleon's Invasion

Moving on to modern history, we must grab the Zionists, the French and the British by the throat in order to take the damages that are due us for Napoleon's invasion and for the Franco-Anglo-Zionist plots against Egypt in 1956, in 1967 and also in 1973, because the British took part in preventing [Egypt] from realizing the fruits of its stupendous victory. We want compensation for 72 years of British occupation that imposed backwardness and dependency upon us, stole the resources of our country, drove a wedge between the sons of the homeland and turned [the members of] one social stratum into [British] agents who took no pity on the Egyptian poor..."

Al-Gamal concluded: "We have nothing to lose, let us sue [Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu, [British Prime Minister, David] Cameron, and others who stole from us and played a role in what befell us for generations.

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Al-Yawm Al-Sabi' (Egypt), March 11, 2014.

-DCH