White House calls for Egyptian military to hand power to civilian regime

[Turborama]

Source: The Guardian

Washington increases pressure on ruling generals to cede power to civilian government as protests continue in Cairo


Chris McGreal | Friday November 25 2011 17.24 GMT

The White House has called for the Egyptian military to surrender all power immediately to a new civilian government that is due to be elected within the next few days.

In a marked increase of pressure on the ruling generals after days of hesitancy, Washington appears to have withdrawn its support for the army to retain a significant political role after next week's parliamentary elections.

But the US nevertheless threw its weight behind the ruling military council's plan to press ahead with the elections despite days of protest and dozens of deaths among demonstrators. Protesters have demanded the vote be postponed because the army would still have ultimate authority in running the country until the middle of next year.

The White House said the army council should swiftly cede full control to the newly appointed prime minister, Kamal Ganzouri, and his government. "The United States strongly believes that the new Egyptian government must be empowered with real authority immediately. We believe that Egypt's transition to democracy must continue, with elections proceeding expeditiously, and all necessary measures taken to ensure security and prevent intimidation," the White House said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/25/white-house-pressures-egypt-military

[qb]

1. Egypt to the US: "You First!"

[EFerrari]

3. Seriously. Our 1.2 billion is buying the junta a lot of tear gas

and bullets.

[tblue]

2. Which Republican do we blame this on? .

That is some serious hypocrisy. The WH is so not what its supposed to be.

[pampango]

4. NYT: President Obama came out on the side of the Arab street, issuing a call for the Egyptian

military to quickly hand over power to a civilian, democratically elected government.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/world/middleeast/us-urges-egypt-to-let-civilians-govern-quickly.html

In so doing, the president opened up a litany of risks, exposing a fault line between the United States and the Egyptian military which, perhaps more than any other entity in the region, has for 30 years served as the bulwark protecting a critical American concern in the Middle East: the 1979 Camp David peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

In explicitly warning the military to swiftly begin a “full transfer of power” to a civilian government in a “just and inclusive manner,” the White House served notice that the army in Egypt would continue to receive the Obama administration’s support only if it, in turn, supported a real democratic transition.

The statement, issued at 3:03 a.m. in Washington, was timed to greet the news of the military’s selection of a new prime minister in Egypt and to get in front of protests in Cairo that drew hundreds of thousands, the largest turnout of a tumultuous week. It signaled, foreign policy experts said, the beginning of a shift in how the United States deals with a fast-changing Arab region and tries to preserve the Egypt-Israel peace accord.

“What we’re now doing is saying to the military that if you think you’re going to maintain military power, we’re not going to support that,” said Martin S. Indyk, director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution and the former United States ambassador to Israel. “We want you to play the role of midwife to democracy, not the role of military junta.”

[AntiFascist]

7. Good for the President...

hopefully moderates will prevail in Egyptian government.

[DeSwiss]

5. We need to turn ours over to civilians as well. - K&R n/t

[Javaman]

6. White House calls for Egyptian military

to hand power to corporate, ahem civilian regime