“Managed” chaos and “contained” mayhem in the Middle East – Egypt

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America must prevent other states from challenging our leadership or seeking to overturn the established political and economic order…We must maintain the mechanisms for deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role

Pentagon’s Defense Planning Guide for 1994-1999

The Israelis, whose military had close ties to General [Abdel Fattah al-] Sisi from his former post as head of military intelligence, were supporting the [military] takeover as well.  Western diplomats say that General Sisi and his circle appeared to be in heavy communication with Israeli colleagues, and the diplomats believed the Israelis were also undercutting the Western message by reassuring the Egyptians not to worry about American threats to cut off aid.

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Another-Tack-Egypts-Polish-syndrome-323995

Many people seem more concerned about hypothetical Islamist crimes in Egypt than about the actual crimes of the junta – seizing executive power, arresting elected politicians, torturing and killing hundreds of their own citizens (Al Sisi should be in the Hague). Their stance boils down to some Orientalist notion of Egyptians not being ready for democracy, much in the same way as authoritarians in the past supported fascist coups as the preferable alternative to democratically elected socialist governments. According to some, then as now, millions of voters made the “wrong” choice and deserve punishment for that.

Egypt has always been a military state, the army has always been in charge. 30 to 40 percent of its economy is controlled by the army. Morsi’s election could not change this state of affairs. The police and the judiciary were are loyal to Mubarak and the private media sided against the Muslim Brotherhood. This is how a false meme spread that Morsi was willing to “enforce” a “Sharia law” and something had to be done to prevent that. The truth is that Islamic law was already the official source of the legislation in the former constitution (1971) and the revised constitution (2012) has removed the reference to “the duties of a woman” in Egyptian society

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/egypt/2012/12/2012129173710651270.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/9711879/Egyptian-draft-constitution-to-keep-sharia-as-main-source-of-law.html

http://www.opendemocracy.net/zaid-al-ali/egypts-draft-constitution-analysis

 080208-deane-cookIf one were to judge from the results in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Gaza, West Bank, Egypt, Sinai, Greece, Mexico, and elsewhere, it would become apparent that failed states is the real Western goal. Oligarchs don’t like stability, borders, vibrant institutions and civil societies, sovereign governments. They much prefer failed states, warlords, black markets, forced choices, security vacuums, blackmailing, usury (debt servitude), anarchy and microstates with little or no ability to defend themselves from “humanitarian” (R2P) and monetary “tutors”. That is why billions are spent annually by the axis of Middle Eastern autocracies and Western oligarchies – neo-colonial powers – to ensure that chaos continues and expands, through assassinations, suicide bombs, financial terror. Regardless of the will, hopes and aspirations of hundreds of millions of people.

Unless the Arab Spring is genuinely resumed, no real progress will be made on the issue of the recognition and protection of dignity for all human beings, and the fate of Israel, Saudi Arabia and of the whole Middle East will be sealed > Armageddon, the Holocaust of all semitic scapegoats.

The American Empire, c. AD 475 (2012), or the upcoming bloodshed

 “I’m here to kick ass and chew bubble gum … and I’m all out of bubble gum“.

“The venom of snakes is under their lips. Their mouths are full of bitterness and curses. And in their paths, nothing but ruin and misery. And the fear of God is not before their eyes! They have taken the hearts and minds of our leaders. They have recruited the rich and powerful, and they have blinded us to the truth! And our human spirit is corrupted. Why do we worship greed? Because outside the limit of our sight, feeding off us, perched on top of us from birth to death are our owners. Our owners — they have us. They control us. They are our masters. Wake up. They’re all about you, all around you!“.

“Our impulses are being redirected. We are living in an artificially induced state of consciousness that resembles sleep. (…) The poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent. They have created a repressive society, and we are their unwitting accomplices. Their intention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness. We have been lulled into a trance. They have made us indifferent to ourselves, to others. We are focused only on our own gain. Please understand. They are safe as long as they are not discovered. That is their primary method of survival. Keep us asleep, keep us selfish, keep us sedated.”

The economic impact of the firearms industry is up 66 percent since the beginning of the Great Recession, providing an unexpected shot in the arm for the economy, according to a new study.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation says the economic impact of firearm sales – a figure that includes jobs. taxes and sales – hit $31 billion in 2011, up from $19 billion in 2008.

Jobs in the firearms business jumped 30 percent from 2008 to 2011, when the industry employed 98,750.

The industry paid $2.5 billion in federal taxes in 2011, up 66 percent in three years.

“Ours is an industry with a rich history and heritage that remains vital and important to the American economy today,” NSSF Senior Vice President Lawrence G. Keane said in a statement. “To millions of Americans our industry’s products represent liberty, security and recreation.”

Some in the industry attribute the jump in sales to fears the Obama administration will tighten gun control laws in a possible second term.

“There’s a concern that in the second term the Obama administration would lead an attempt to restrict gun ownership,” Mr. Keane said.

That concern, known in the industry as “the Obama factor,” has led many gun owners to purchase now in hopes of avoiding more restrictions and regulations later.

“Some people jokingly refer to [President Obama] as the salesman of the year for the industry,” Mr. Keane said.

Mr. Keane said the president doesn’t deserve all the credit for the sales growth.

He said more young people and women are getting into gun ownership.

“You cannot attribute all the increase simply to the Obama factor,” he said. “It’s a factor, it’s an important factor, but it’s not the only reason.”

Although there is no single indicator that tracks the number of firearms sold in the country, the FBI reported that a record 14.4 million criminal background checks were requested for gun purchases in 2010, and that preliminary numbers project the figure to be above 16 million for 2011.

According to the NSSF’s numbers, requests for gun-related background checks was up some 17.3 percent for the month of January 2012 compared to the same period a year earlier – the 20th straight monthly increase in background check requests.

FBI officials say that just over 1 percent of such background checks result in denials, and not every background check results in a final gun purchase. But the numbers are widely considered a reliable proxy for gun sales trends generally.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/19/gun-sales-skyrocket-during-recession/print/

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