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Washington\u2019s Blog<\/b><\/a> The protests in Egypt against president Mohammed Morsi were \u2014 according to the BBC \u2014 the\u00a0largest in history<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Egyptian military\u00a0threw Morsi out<\/a>\u00a0in a coup today.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Irish Times\u00a0reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n Army concern about the way President Mohamed Morsi was governing Egypt\u00a0reached tipping point when the head of state attended a rally packed with hardline fellow Islamists calling for holy war in Syria<\/strong>, military sources have said.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Mr Morsi himself called for foreign intervention in Syria<\/strong>\u00a0against Mr Assad,leading to a veiled rebuke from the army<\/strong>, which issued an apparently bland but sharp-edged statement the next day stressing that its only role was guarding Egypt\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n \u201cThe armed forces were very alarmed by the Syrian conference at a time the state was going through a major political crisis,\u201d said one officer, whose comments reflected remarks made privately by other army staff. He was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to talk to the media.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n For the army,\u00a0the Syria rally had crossed \u201ca national security red line\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0by encouraging Egyptians to fight abroad, risking creating a new generation of jihadists, said Yasser El-Shimy, analyst with the International Crisis Group.<\/p>\n At the heart of the military\u2019s concern is the history of militant Islam in Egypt, homeland of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. The military source condemned recent remarks made by \u201cretired terrorists\u201d allied to Mr Morsi, who has deepened his ties with the once-armed group al-Gamaa al-Islamiya.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Obama had recently\u00a0sent American troops to prop up Mursi<\/a>, and the protesters were\u00a0furious at the U.S. for backing Islamic radicals<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n (The U.S.\u00a0backed Egypt\u2019s previous dictator<\/a>, as well).<\/p>\n Support of Western intervention in Syria was also\u00a0one of the main causes<\/a>\u00a0of the recent enormous protests in Turkey \u2026 which came close to toppling the Turkish leadership.<\/p>\n Indeed, the American government has been providing arms, money and logistical support to Al Qaeda inSyria<\/a>,\u00a0Libya, Mali<\/a>,\u00a0Bosnia<\/a>\u00a0and other countries \u2014 and related Muslim terrorists in\u00a0Chechnya<\/a>,\u00a0Iran<\/a>, andmany other countries<\/a>. So moderate Arabs all over the Middle East and North Africa are becoming furious at\u00a0U.S. interventionist policies<\/a>.<\/p>\n Note: The coup is a set-back for the U.S. , because Egypt \u2014 unlike Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Iran \u2014 isn\u2019t on the\u00a020-year-old list of countries targeted for regime change<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <!– <\/p>\n –><\/p>\n This article was posted: Thursday, July 4, 2013 at 5:30 am<\/p>\n Tags: foreign affairs<\/a>, government corruption<\/a>, police state<\/a><\/p>\n
July 4, 2013<\/p>\n\n
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