dagblog - Comments for "Egypt: ‘51 killed’ in shooting at Cairo Republican Guard compound – live coverage"

Iran blames Morsi's US stance

artappraiser — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 08:08:47 +0000

In reply to Egypt: ‘51 killed’ in shooting at Cairo Republican Guard compound – live coverage

Iran blames Morsi's US stance for crisis

By Golnaz Esfandiari, Asia Times Online, July 8, 2013

Lede: Iranian clerics who welcomed the Muslim Brotherhood election victory as a triumph for political Islam say deposed president Mohamed Morsi's "pro-US and pro-Israeli" stances were behind his ouster and the country's crisis. By cutting ties with Syria, and "not frowning" enough at Israel, the Brotherhood violated Islamic principles and sealed its fate, say hardliners close to the supreme leader's office in Tehran.

Hah. It really does seem to

artappraiser — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 06:30:43 +0000

In reply to You know you are out of the

Hah. It really does seem to be shaping up that that's the case. We are no longer the big player, that's for sure, it's our $1.5 billion to Saudi's $8 billion. And the latter knows exactly who they want to get the check.

Got me thinking maybe the Sauds think about this Ikwahn when they see today's Ikwahn.

All becomes much clearer; I

artappraiser — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 06:19:12 +0000

In reply to Saudi Arabia & UAE just

All becomes much clearer; I did not know this; thank you, Robert F. Worth:

The tensions between Qatar and Saudi Arabia are older and broader than the Arab uprisings that began in 2011. Saudi Arabia, which prefers to work its checkbook diplomacy quietly and behind the scenes, sees itself as the regional leader. But the Qataris have for years fashioned an outsize foreign policy, often rebuffing Saudi Arabia’s perceived interests, using its wealth and Al Jazeera, the television network it built, to play a decisive role in some of the region’s most volatile and important events.

Qatar, host to the largest American military base in the Middle East, has also eagerly financed Islamists in Tunisia, Libya, Syria and Egypt, often siding with the Muslim Brotherhood or its affiliates, like Hamas. Qatar angered the Saudis (and the Obama administration) by supporting Islamist rebels in Syria and providing some heavier weapons, like shoulder-fired missiles, against American advice.

Suddenly, some of the tables have turned on Qatar.

With the rise of the Brotherhood, the Saudis had largely cut off aid to Mr. Morsi’s government and ignored American requests to help Egypt manage a worsening economic crisis. After Mr. Morsi was ousted by the Egyptian military, the Saudi and Emirati governments were quick to issue strong statements of support for the transition. On Friday night, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia personally called Egypt’s army chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el Sisi, to reinforce his backing for the caretaker government, The Associated Press reported.

“This is clearly a setback for the ideology that Qatar and Turkey support and encourage,” said one Arab official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to antagonize two powerful nations. “If political Islam was a stock, it would have gone down dramatically over the past week.”

From Egypt Is Arena for Influence of Arab Rivals
By Robert F. Worth, New York Times, July 9/10, 2013

Article continues with lots more interesting stuff on Qatari & Turkish support of the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar's erratic foreign policy elsewhere, and how Qatar might be changing, falling in line with the Saudis.

You know you are out of the

moat — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 00:59:02 +0000

In reply to Egypt: ‘51 killed’ in shooting at Cairo Republican Guard compound – live coverage

You know you are out of the game when you promise to keep the payments coming but don't know who to make the checks out to.

Saudi Arabia & UAE just

artappraiser — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 20:05:50 +0000

In reply to Egypt: ‘51 killed’ in shooting at Cairo Republican Guard compound – live coverage

Saudi Arabia & UAE just poured $8 billion into Egypt.

We in the U.S. should be grateful. Because combined with King Abdullah's quick "congratulations" to Mansour (which still strikes moi as extremely inappropriate protocol-wise, whether you call what happened a coup, revolution, coupvolution or recall,) and with the local Al Jazeera coverage (owned by Qatar) still apparently causing havoc, there are the makings of conspiracy theorizing without Ameerka as the head of the snake. For once we may not be the center of the plot, praise Allah. That's not to say most of the conspiracy theories won't manage to include Israel at the center of it somehow, though.