No US aid to Egypt!

If there is one thing the military’s ultimatum to Morsi makes crystal clear it is that the generals rule Egypt. Not Islamism, not shariah law, & certainly not popular democracy enshrined in fraudulent elections--but a military junta backed to the hilt by the US government. Morsi & the Muslim Brotherhood were allowed to play politics only because they supported the continuation of neoliberalism established under the former general Mubarak & they supported military rule. That’s why the constitution rammed through last year elaborated no protections for human, democratic, women’s, or worker’s rights but kept military prerogatives intact--with a secret budget, control over the Defense Ministry & national security decisions, the right to try civilians in military courts, & military autonomy outside the purview of democratic oversight. This includes of course the political & military relationship with the US Pentagon at the expense of the people of Egypt, Palestinians, & other Arab uprisings.

Media repeatedly report that Egyptian protestors herald the intervention of the military into the present standoff between Morsi & protestors demanding his removal. It’s impossible to believe millions of Egyptians who have gone through the terrors of military dictatorship & who have been battling with tanks & tear gas for the past 2-1/2 years don’t understand the character of this impasse or look to the military to save the revolution. You can report such nonsense til the cows come home but it will never make it true. Revolutions have a way of smartening up a lot of people real fast.

The crisis in Egypt is the crisis of neoliberalism, which is capitalism Al Capone-style. Foreign investors bankrolled by the IMF are bleeding wealth out of the country into their own coffers, leaving Egyptian working people to suffer the consequences. The generals & their US colluding partners are in a snafu situation. There is no possible candidate for presidency that can solve the governmental crisis because even when Morsi is ousted the crisis of neoliberal economics will remain. That’s why the military is stepping back into open power. Morsi’s going to take the fall (& should) but no matter how many phony elections they hold, the stinking carcass of a rotten system will still remain. It is no accident that as capitalism spirals into greater crises so does autocratic & military rule because autocracy becomes essential to control popular revolts against austerity & neoliberal policies.

Neoliberalism faces a crisis of leadership but much more importantly, so does the popular revolt. With no organizational structure or a clearly elaborated program to fight for yet, the Egyptian revolution faces its own impasse. Forging that program & the necessary leadership is the daunting task Egyptian working people face. One thing is clear: in the long run the Egyptian military & neoliberal state will have to be dismantled down to the last bullet & tear gas canister. Our brothers & sisters face a daunting & dangerous  mission. We can render our support by demanding loud & clear “No US aid to Egypt!” “No US aid to Israel!” Our fullest solidarity with the Egyptian revolution!

This graffiti against Morsi is on the wall of the presidential palace in Cairo--getting right up close & personal with political insults.

(Photo by Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images)