The middle-east is a mess. It is the most troubled region in the world, there is war, oppression, and outright chaos. Egypt has taken the spot light at the moment. The 30 year reign of President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak has been one that has been shrouded in controversy since its inception following the assassination of President Omar Sadat by Egyptian Army Officers angry with this treaty with Israel following the Six Day War. There is lots of confusion in the word about this crisis. Some say it is the overthrow of a tyrant, others say it is just going to lead to the rise of another theocracy based ideological state in a region so filled with that already. But what is it really?
Let’s go back and look at history, not just history of the modern state of Egypt but going back to the land of the Pharaohs, in a time all but forgotten. Egypt is among the earliest and greatest civilizations the world as ever known. This is in-spite of the fact that the proud nation with such rich cultural heritage lies in the middle of the Sahara Desert. It is due to the miracle of the Nile River, that allows crops to grow, thus enabling an agricultural based powerhouse to flourish in the ancient world in a place the ancients called "The bread-basket of the world". Wars have been fought on this land for centuries, not just for its important resources but also for its location. Egypt holds among the most strategically located places on the map, it’s located at the northeast corner of Africa. To the North is the Mediterranean Sea where the Nile River empties into. The Nile pierces into the heart of Africa, making it the world’s longest running river. To the east, is Asia, and just to the north of that is Europe. It is due to its location that Egypt became among the most sought after prices in the world to conquer. It lies on the primary rout trade route of the ancient world, The Silk Road. Nations that conquered Egypt include many of the world’s greatest empires, The Hittites, The Assyrians, The Greeks, The Romans, The Arabs, The Ottoman Turks, and finally the British. The full list is much more comprehensive and probably never will be know entirely for sure. This stresses the strategic placement of the country though.
After Egypt finally gained its independence for Great Briton, the nation like it has so many times before in history remained a powerhouse in the region. The Suez Crisis of the 1960's escalated into one of the most important lesser known conflicts in modern warfare. WWIII was very narrowly avoided as well in this, as many historians would argue. Another crisis was the formation of the State of Israel. One the ignited centuries of turmoil between two Semitic peoples going back thousands of years to the tale of Abraham that the three great religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam claim a common originate from. Egypt finally sued for peace with Israel following the destruction of its military by the IDF during the Six Day War. For this Egypt lost its membership to the Arab League of Nations, and as mentioned above earlier, Omar Sadat lot his life, killed by army officers who felt disgraced and betrayed for this. But even with the attempted coup and assassination of the President, Egypt under President Mubarak (who was vice-president under Sadat) made good on the peace treaty, and continued to act intermediately between Israel and Palestine during peace talks. This has proved invaluable for foreign affairs and policy in the region, not just for the middle-east, but also for the United States, who have interests in the region, and close alliances as well. Egypt was finally admitted back into the Arab League in the 1980's. They nation has continually supported the United States in foreign policy several times over the years, from the Israeli- Palestinian conflicts, to the Libyan turmoil brought by Omar Kaddafi, and to the war on terrorism.
Even with this invaluable support the Egyptian Government has not been an excellent example of democracy in the works to say the very least. There have been reports of the illegal detention of so called enemies of the state, which includes journalists and other intellectuals. The oppression to the people of Egypt is beyond a doubt real. It is an issue that needs to be addressed, but in an orderly way. The chaos on the streets, the hundreds, maybe even thousands of casualties as a result, the endless looting are all a huge issue to consider before making a decision on how to handle this situation.
What should be done is that the United States Government and the Obama administration should bite their tongues and pledge their support for the current regime. It is as simple as this, they have gone out on the limb and given us a hand in key crisis' even with massive disapproval from the public, we should return the favor. As a nation how can our allies trust us when we take, and take, and take, but never give? A key part of international diplomacy is loyalty. And we are not being loyal. And with this chaos, who run the Egyptian Government? The mob? The Muslim Brotherhood? The Carter administration made the very dame mistake when handling the overthrow of the Shah of Iran. When the mob rules, it is the guys with the biggest guns that take control, and those guys in Egypt are the Muslim Brotherhood. We do not need or want another nation sympathetic go Jihad in that very troubled region. Al-Qaida is far from defeated, and intelligence reports confirm this. T.E. Lawrence, better known as "Lawrence of Arabia" said this "Rebellions can be made by 2 percent activity in the striking force and 98 percent by the passively sympathetic". This is all that needs to occur for an Islamic Fundamentalist Regime to take route. It is not in our best interest, nor in Egypt's, or the worlds for that matter to have another Iran. As for the destruction of antiquities and looting of the museum, that is not just the destruction of Egypt's heritage, but also of the worlds.
