Friday, November 1, 2013

Dispite the Obama Administration's criticizm of him, Egypt's Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is hailed as a hero back Home

In one shop in this bustling capital's core, Egypt's top army chief is everywhere: giving a speech, getting kissed by a beautiful girl, marching in uniform — all images imprinted on chocolate. 
"He saved the country from the Muslim Brothers," said sweet shop owner Bahira Galal of Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose visage can be ordered on a sheet cake or on a batch of bright red balloons with the phrase "Long Live Egypt."
Chocolates decorated with pictures of Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
line the top shelf in a cafe and sweet shop in Cairo on Oct. 24.
Support appears solid among people in Cairo for the man who engineered the ouster of Egypt's first freely elected government in decades. Some of the backing is a part admiration for al-Sisi, but also a reflection of the dearth of political alternatives in a country craving stability and security, analysts and activists said. 
"The general is the guy who knows how to get you out of hot water and it is not the hour for anybody else," said Said Sadek, a political sociologist in Cairo. "The conditions create the hero. The hero doesn't create the conditions."
Bahira Galal fills a box of chocolates at her shop
in Cairo, where she sells sweets embellished with
pictures of Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Oct. 24
Those conditions included an increasingly repressive Islamist government that followed the ouster of longtime Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and an economy that went from bad to worse. 
In late June, millions of people protested what they said was a hijacking of their new democracy by Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi, the first freely elected president of Egypt who had given himself sweeping powers over the judiciary, launched investigations against his critics and sought to regulate pro-democracy groups. 
Morsi's opponents accused him of forcing an Islamist constitution on the people, pushing a religious agenda and ignoring the crumbling economy. Crime rates had risen under Morsi and militant attacks on government outposts persisted in the restive Sinai Peninsula.
The man Morsi himself picked to head the military, al-Sisi, gave Morsi 48 hours to satisfy the crowd's demands. When he failed to do so, al-Sisi had Morsi put under house arrest. Though President Obama has called for a rapid return to civilian rule, many Egyptians hail al-Sisi as the nation's savior. 
"People are concerned about safety and security, not about democracy or freedoms," said Khalil al-Anani, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. 
"Many people believe the only one who can secure Egypt now is Sisi regardless of his political project or vision," he said, noting that Egyptians lost faith in the civilian elite and are subject to a mass media campaign hailing al-Sisi. "There is a huge political vacuum in Egypt."
Read the rest of the story HERE.

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1 comment:

BOSMAN said...

Maybe it's Jealousy on Obama's part. The difference between a DOER and a TALKER. Being ADMIRED by millions in ones country and Despised in ones country.

Maybe that's why Obama doesn't like General al-sisi?