The principal of Egyptian strongman Abdel Fatah al-Sissi to his sponsors in the Obama administration is that only he and his military-backed regime can end the threat from Islamic extremists and prevent his country from becoming a failed state. But as the second anniversary of the former general’s bloody coup against a democratically elected government approaches, the facts are undeniable: Egypt is becoming steadily more violent and unstable.
In the first four months of 2015, more than 200 people were killed in terrorist attacks, according to the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. The number of incidents rose from 27 in October to 112 in April, according to the data, which was reported by the Atlantic Council. Twice this month, militants targeted Egypt’s most important tourist attractions, including the pyramids in Giza and the Karnak temple in Luxor. On the Sinai Peninsula, the army claims to have killed 866 insurgents between October and the end of May. But “the attacks have shown no signs of abating,” the Atlantic Council report said.
There are many reasons for the deteriorating security, including the Egyptian army’s poor tactics and morale. But the most conspicuous failure has been the indiscriminate repression applied by the Sissi regime. Not just armed jihadists have been targeted, but also secular liberal activists, human rights organizations, critical journalists and anyone else who offends the generals. Peaceful public protests effectively are banned, and scores of people are imprisoned for joining them.
By far the biggest target of the abuse has been the Muslim Brotherhood. One of the oldest and most influential Islamist groups in the Middle East, the Brotherhood abandoned violence as a tactic decades ago. But according to Egypt’s semi-official National Council for Human Rights, 1,250 of the 1,800 civilians killed between the coup and the end of 2014 were Muslim Brotherhood members.
Sissi claims the Brotherhood is indistinguishable from the jihadists.
“They are the god-father of all terrorist organizations,” he told The Post’s Lally Weymouth in March.
Judges loyal to the regime have sentenced more than 100 leaders of the group, including former president Mohamed Morsi, to death on trumped-up terrorism charges. However, the group’s remaining leaders, who mostly are in exile, say they still reject the use of violence.
“The Muslim Brotherhood has been very outspoken about this,” Amr Darrag, the exiled chief of the executive committee of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice political party, told us during a visit to Washington last week. “We are against any kind of violence from a very practical point of view. We don’t want our country to go through what Syria and Iraq have gone through.”
Darrag nevertheless acknowledged there has been “slippage” by Egyptian youth toward violence. “There is a real feeling of anger and desire for revenge,” he said. “When you shut down all peaceful and political outlets, you leave some young people feeling they have no choice.”
The world has seen this dynamic play out many times before: A violent regime breeds more violence.
Sadly, Sissi is being aided and abetted by the Obama administration, which recently renewed more than $1 billion in U.S. military aid.
It’s a mistake whose bloody consequences are becoming increasingly evident.
— Washington Post
