Military intervention must take place in Egypt to stop violence and forge path to new elections.
By TAWFIK HAMIDPolicemen stand guard near Morsi poster 370(photo credit: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)
Following several days of widespread violence, protests, and rioting in Egypt's major cities in which several dozen citizens were killed, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is facing tough challenges to his leadership.The so-called "Soccer Riots" are a reflection of the grave mistrust that many Egyptians are feeling. Following the riots, Morsi declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew on three major cities. Residents of Ismailia – including military officers and soldiers— refused to heed the curfew and started a soccer game in front of the main government building as an act of rebellion.Morsi politicized the country's legal system by removing the attorney-general and illegally appointing one of his own people in the position. Additionally, Morsi allowed the Islamists to surround the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) in order to prevent its judges from ruling against him, and neither did he punish those responsible for killing innocent demonstrators in front of his palace. The main broadcasting building owned by the liberal media was also surrounded. The tourism industry has all but collapsed following extreme remarks made by leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB).Morsi's lack of direction coupled with his failure to keep his word – including his promises regarding the economy and the constitution— has contributed to the distrust. Further, he broke his promise to include the secular opposition into the revised constitution despite their victory in the first presidential race in which they gained 60 percent of the votes. It is worth noting that Morsi came to power not because most of the population supported him (he only received 25% of the vote), rather because the opposition was so divided. Had the secular opposition (respectively, Shafik receiving 24% of the vote, Amr Mussa 12 %, Sabahi 22 %) united from the beginning, Morsi would not have come to power.Morsi's jihadist leanings have also recently been exposed in the media, and the world is becoming aware of his anti-Semitic and anti-American sentiments. His recent objection to western intervention in Mali did not help his case any. The situation is very complex in that all factions, including the military, young revolutionists, and more recently, Islamist thugs, are all against each other and are trying to manipulate the chaos for their own ends. Head of the Egyptian Military General Al-Sissi said that the explosive situation in Egypt could end "in the failure of the state.”Therefore, the following steps must be taken in order to restore stability. First, the US must distance itself from Morsi or, at the very least, revise its relations with the MB before it loses its own credibility among the Egyptian public.Second, the military should intervene. A coup would be supported by most Egyptians even though it will likely trigger violent backlash from the Islamists. The military should demand that Morsi include the four aforementioned secular candidates (some 75% of the first presidential race votes) to share the burden of the steering committee - at least until another presidential race can be held. To prevent rigging again, those elections should be monitored by internationally recognized organizations.Morsi must be held accountable – both on the domestic front and internationally – for breaking his oaths as president. No doubt these moves will lead to more bloodshed but if the situation continues as it is now, Egypt is doomed either way.The writer is an Islamic thinker and reformer, and one-time Islamic extremist from Egypt. He was a member of a terrorist Islamic organization JI with Dr. Ayman Al-Zawaherri, who later became the second in command of al-Qaida. He is currently a senior fellow and chairman of the study of Islamic radicalism at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.
