President Obama and his administration have denied taking sides in the recent Egyptian crisis that led to the military overthrow of democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi.
However, according to a recent report from Aljazeera, “a review of dozens of U.S. federal government documents shows Washington quietly funded senior Egyptian opposition figures who called for toppling of the country’s now-deposed president.
“Documents obtained by the Investigative Reporting Program at University of California Berkeley show the U.S. channeled funding through a State Department program to promote democracy in the Middle East region. This program vigorously supported activists and politicians who fomented unrest in Egypt, after autocratic President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising in February 2011.
“The State Department’s program, dubbed by U.S. officials as a ‘democracy assistance’ initiative, is part of a wider Obama administration effort to stop the retreat of pro-Washington secularists, and to win back influence in Arab Spring countries that saw the rise of Islamists, who largely oppose U.S. interests in the Middle East.
“Activists bankrolled by the program include an exiled Egyptian police officer who plotted the violent overthrow of the Morsi government, an anti-Islamist politician who advocated closing mosques and dragging preachers out by force, as well as a coterie of opposition politicians who pushed for the ouster of the country’s first democratically elected leader, government documents show.
“Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, interviews and public records reveal Washington’s ‘democracy assistance’ may have violated Egyptian law, which prohibits foreign political funding.
“It may also have broken U.S. government regulations that ban the use of taxpayers’ money to fund foreign politicians or finance subversive activities that target democratically elected governments.”
Other Evidence of Intervention
“On July 8 Iranian officials describing Morsi’s ousting as a “cause for concern,” said “foreign hands” were at work in Egypt.
“The intervention of armed forces in political affairs is unacceptable and disturbing,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi was quoted as telling Mehr news agency, regarding events in Egypt. “It cannot be denied that foreign hands are at work here,” Araqchi said, adding, ‘The polarization of Egyptian society is dangerous.'” – Radio Free Europe
Sudden Improvements in Egypt Suggest a Campaign to Undermine Morsi
According to the New York Times, “since the military ousted President Mohammed Morsi, life has somehow gotten better for many people across Egypt: Gas lines have disappeared, power cuts have stopped and the police have returned to the street.
“The apparently miraculous end to the crippling energy shortages, and the re-emergence of the police, seems to show that the legions of personnel left in place after former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011 played a significant role — intentionally or not — in undermining the overall quality of life under the Islamist administration of Mr. Morsi.
“And as the interim government struggles to unite a divided nation, the Muslim Brotherhood and Mr. Morsi’s supporters say the sudden turnaround proves that their opponents conspired to make Mr. Morsi fail. Not only did police officers seem to disappear, but the state agencies responsible for providing electricity and ensuring gas supplies failed so fundamentally that gas lines and rolling blackouts fed widespread anger and frustration.”
“This was preparing for the coup,” said Naser el-Farash, who served as the spokesman for the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade under Mr. Morsi. “Different circles in the state, from the storage facilities to the cars that transport petrol products to the gas stations, all participated in creating the crisis.”
