[News] Egypt - And now, a message from our (Saudi) sponsors

Tue Aug 20 18:31:35 EDT 2013

*And now, a message from our (Saudi) sponsors*
By Pepe Escobar

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-05-200813.html

There he is, Egypt's new pharaoh, Pinochet Sisi, in full regalia/glory 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg3tDdCFdYk&nomobile=1>. Subtitles are 
superfluous. This is General Abdel Fattel al-Sisi's Oscar moment. He's 
thanking his sponsors/producers. When he mentions "Saudi Arabia" the 
room goes wild. When he mentions [King] "Abdullah" the room goes wild.

What a performance. A biopic looms. He's already dreaming of Jack 
Nicholson doing him on screen. Note the self-congratulatory smirk, as he 
is so confident of having fooled legions of Arab "progressives" - from 
secular leftists to Nasserists - into believing he's defending the 
interests of the perennially invoked "Egyptian people".

Note the "Fight against terrorism" on the top left of the small screen. 
Here's Sisi as Dubya - in Mission Accomplished mode. Who cares that 
Egypt has been reduced to a totally (bloody) failed state? Who cares 
about competing gruesome headlines - "Sinai Militants Execute 25 Egypt 
Police" versus "Junta Suffocates 38 Detainees in Police Van"? He's 
winning the "war on terror" - as the new head of the snake, the snake 
that never got away.

Feel free to bask in the snake's glow. And as a climax to the show, the 
previous head of the snake could be freed in the next 24 hours. To the 
delight of the House of Saud, who loved him as one of their own, the 
snake charmers are about to release Hosni Mubarak. "Arab Spring?" - one 
can easily imagine the former head of the snake muttering. "Don't make 
me laugh." And he won't - at least in public. This "Arab Spring", this 
Google invention, never happened. You can all go home now - and stay 
there. The snake will protect you and defend the interests of the 
"Egyptian people". But remember; if you're against us, you're a 
terrorist. And we're coming to get you.

*We're deciding not to decide*
The producers of the Egyptian epic are as delighted as their star. What 
a major box office success. Who cares that Poodleland - as in the 
European Union - will convene an "emergency" meeting this Wednesday to 
perhaps "suspend aid" to Glorious Sisi? Who cares that the US Congress 
is tentatively following the same path? [1]

Picture a split screen featuring roars of laughter at the producers lair 
in Riyadh. For the Obama administration this was - and remains - a coup 
that is not a coup, although it walked like a coup and talked like a 
coup. But categorical imperatives do not apply here. So congress is 
deciding they are not going to say if it's a coup or not. And the Obama 
administration is deciding to say nothing about what it may decide - 
only that is "reprograming" the whole thing.

Whatever non-decision is reached, the producers couldn't care less. The 
Saudi foreign minister, the eternal Saud al-Faisal, has already promised 
that the producers and other Gulf Cooperation Council associate 
producers - as in the United Arab Emirates - will happily match and 
perhaps even double whatever aid is lost by the glorious head of the 
snake Sisi.

The New York Times struggled hard to give the impression that Washington 
had any sway in influencing glorious Sisi - and the producers - against 
launching the coup that is not a coup. [2] That is eminently laughable 
(cut to the split screen in Riyadh). The only nugget in the report is 
that the House of Saud, the UAE and Israel frantically incited, 
supported and lobbied for the coup that is not a coup; Asia Times Online 
had already reported 
<http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-04-160813.html> about it.

Ooops, Israel; glorious Sisi could not possibly thank this particular 
producer in his Oscar acceptance speech. How can you justify that to the 
Arab street - that we're the servants of the occupiers of Palestine? As 
for the Israelis, they couldn't care less; Sisi is "one of them"; they 
are always "in close contact"; and he would never do anything to cancel 
the Camp David accords.

*Sunny, I love you *
The Obama administration has subcontracted its Middle East policy to the 
House of Saud at its own peril. Whatever King "Return of the Living 
Dead" Abdullah says, goes. Actually, not; whatever Return of the 
Invisible Spy, the spectacular resurfaced Bandar bin Sultan, aka Bandar 
Bush, does, holds. The beauty of the coup that is not a coup, and Sisi's 
acceptance speech, is that Bandar, eminent practitioner of dark arts, is 
not even mentioned.

And yet it was Bandar Bush who - in his recent four-hour meeting with 
Russian President Vladimir Putin - did not get what he wanted in Syria; 
but he did get what he wanted in Egypt. Chess player Putin clearly saw 
the opening; after all the Muslim Brotherhood is anathema to both the 
House of Saud and the Kremlin. And if there's no more US "aid" to Sisi's 
junta - as in we give you cash so you can buy more of our weapons - 
there's nothing preventing the Russian arms industry from filling the void.

None of this, of course, will make the Syrian tragedy go away; during 
Ramadan, it was Bandar Bush who organized the silent acquisition of at 
least US$50 million in weapons from Israel instantly shipped to the 
dizzying net of Salafi-jihadi-mercenary gangs supported by the House of 
Saud. And this after Bandar Bush successfully strong-armed the Obama 
administration to get rid of those Qatari upstarts - who were paying the 
Muslim Brotherhood's bills in Egypt - and let him take over the Syrian 
jihad.

Bandar is on a roll. He's now in charge of an extremely ambitious "total 
jihad", three-pronged strategy in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, manipulating 
the same old House of Saud iron horse of sectarian hatred, pitting 
Sunnis against "apostate" Shi'ites, with a heavy emphasis on ghastly car 
bombings in civilian areas, as in the recent bombing in the southern 
Beirut suburb of Zahiyeh.

But this is a long-term franchise with many sequels in store. For now, 
he tops the box office in Egypt. But there may be a spanner in the 
works. The Tamarod movement - who collected the 22 million signatures 
that led to the mass demonstrations that created the opening for the 
coup that is not a coup - is now demanding not only the cancellation of 
all US "aid" but of the Camp David accords as well. [3]

Now that's another bomb - the heart of the matter as far as US/Israel 
are concerned. What if Tamarod manages to again get 22 million - or more 
- signatures - not unlikely considering the absolute majority of 
Egyptians abhor the "peace" with Israel? Will glorious Sisi muster the 
courage to displease his Israeli producers? Will Bandar give him a green 
light? Will the Obama administration install a no-fly zone over Cairo?

As the world fastens myriad seat belts ahead of looming storms, the news 
from the White House, is, well, soothing. There's a new member in the 
household, a puppy named Sunny. So picture the household singing at the 
dinner table, in unison; "Dark days are gone/ bright days are here/ my 
Sunny one shines so sincere". Cut to Sisi/Jack Nicholson in full 
regalia; "Heeeeeere's Johnny!" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV4xo_rF-oo>

/*Notes:*/
1. Obama administration quietly suspends military aid to Egypt, mulls 
'coup' - report <http://rt.com/news/obama-suspend-aid-egypt-695/>, 
Russia Today, August 20, 2013.
2. How American Hopes for a Deal in Egypt Were Undercut 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/world/middleeast/pressure-by-us-failed-to-sway-egypts-leaders.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=global-home>, 
The New York Times, August 17, 2013.
3. Egypt's Rebel Campaign launches petition to cancel US aid, Israel 
peace treaty 
<http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/79334/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Rebel-Campaign-launches-petition-to-cancel-.aspx>, 
Ahram Online, August 18, 2013.

/*Pepe Escobar* is the author of/ Globalistan: How the Globalized World 
is Dissolving into Liquid War 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0978813820/simpleproduction/ref=nosim> 
/(Nimble Books, 2007) and /Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during 
the surge 
<http://www.amazon.com/Red-Zone-Blues-snapshot-Baghdad/dp/0978813898>. 
/He has also written / Obama does Globalistan 
<http://www.amazon.com/Obama-Does-Globalistan-Pepe-Escobar/dp/1934840831/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233698286&sr=8-1>/ 
(Nimble Books, 2009).

He may be reached at/ pepeasia at yahoo.com.
-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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