and then, on 05 December 2012 - 11:21 PM, said:
The army's position is unclear. El Sissi is Mursi's appointee and the constitution draft gives even wider leeway to the army which could be tempting for the army to turn a blind eye, but for how long?
CNN's article is offering a rather one-sided view of the story. An excellent analysis of why the constitution draft is rejected can be found here:
http://mideast.forei...an_constitution
Mursi's insistence on refusing to rescind the constitutional decree, and on having the referendum on Dec. 15th., have ignited demonstrations against him, and the MB, all over Egypt. Egyptians have not forgotten the 'cooked-up' 99% results of previous elections; nor the shelved case of pre-marked ballots of the last presidential elections. More than 100,000 attended the first demonstrations surrounding the presidential palace. These were peaceful; no one was killed or injured, except the paint on the palace's wall which was decorated with graffiti. Faced with growing opposition, protest resignations of presidential advisors -including the vice president of FJP, media personnel and anchors, and wide-spread demonstrations; and in an effort to cow any opposition, MB leaders issued orders to their supporters and militias to clear the sit-in in front of the palace. Peaceful demonstrators were attacked, beaten, stripped of their clothes, dragged on the ground, and finally shot at using live bullets and bird shot. Some were arrested and tortured to force a confession that they are paid 'thugs' (including Yahiya Zachariah, the previous ambassador of Egypt to Venezuela). They were told to confess or be killed while the police watched! This is a family site, I cannot post the graphic pictures or clips, I will only post links but be warned they are not pretty:
https://www.facebook...&type=1
https://www.youtube....&has_verified=1
https://www.youtube....&has_verified=1
https://www.facebook...&type=1 (notice the stacked thick sticks destined to clear the sit-in)
In his speech, Mursi offered no substantial compromise but laid the blame for the violence on his opponents. He did not even mention how his MB followers savaged demonstrators. The comic touch was that he lamented that a driver of a
bullet-proof car in his motorcade was injured by a stone thrown by a demonstrator (?!).
It seems the MB in its drive to rule unchallenged is willing to go to any extreme and sacrifice as many Egyptians as it takes. The question is, why does the present American administration persist in backing them? It is noteworthy that one of the MB leaders who personally threatened the opposition and is responsible for calling the MB militia to clear the demonstrations, El Eryian, has left this afternoon to USA. It remains to be seen if Obama's speech in Cairo University was mere rhetoric or if he meant any of it.