Significance of Foreign Interventions

During the last 10 days, the Egyptian arena has witnessed intense visits between Arab and foreign delegations. Some of them were of an official capacity. Others were of a popular nature. A third [type of group] bore a legal status. All of those delegations announced publicly that they sought unity of the Egyptian ranks. However, the truth they did not dare announce is that they all came for private interests, in search of the role they might play in securing future benefits for themselves. That is what is blatantly interfering in Egyptian affairs. It is on the Egyptians — all of them — to refuse it and to address it.

It is my assertion that these interventions have not taken place, unfortunately, without [foreigners] flocking to our domestic soil. There are Egyptian parties looking for foreign aid to realize their internal political gains or using it as a means to bully others and resolve conflict with opposition powers. By following up and analyzing the situations, I can confirm that the party that was searching for foreign aid had at that time admitted its failure to achieve internal popular support, which would have permitted it to compete with its opposition. On the other hand, those looking for foreign help will be losers in the end because they will be subject to foreign blackmail that will calculate the cost of each step. They will not intervene unless they are sure they will obtain gains many times what they paid, not excluding the price of robbing Egypt of its freedom or dividing it. At this time, the Egyptian youth will not forgive the great betrayal that brought aggressors to desecrate the land of Egypt.

U.S. intervention is considered the crudest. It is not in order to defend democracy or human rights like Patterson, McCain and others pay lip service to; rather, it is about interests far from that. The U.S. Daily News uncovered it in a report it published on its electronic platform on July 26 titled “Ten Reasons Why Egypt Is Vital to US Economy and Security.” The article does not expand on all 10 reasons, but the most important is that the events in Egypt affect the future of the entire Middle East. Also, they strongly affect United States security because they deeply affect hundreds of thousands of Egyptians who hold U.S. citizenship, millions of Arab and Muslim-Americans, and millions of Egyptians deployed in Europe and throughout the world. Reading the article, I was drawn to one of the reasons highlighted for the importance of the Egyptian army: It provides a security umbrella to many of the countries in the Arab world. Included among those are a number of small Arab Gulf states. The Middle East has around 65 percent of the world’s oil reserves, and it produces 30 percent of the world’s oil. Despite that, Washington obtains only about 20 percent of its oil imports from the ancient world. However, Egyptian instability will affect U.S. fuel acquisitions, just as it would affect the number of America’s close allies. Another reason mentioned in the U.S. newspaper was the importance of the Suez Canal, through which between 8 and 12 percent of global trade passes. It saves ships thousands of miles in travel from Asia to Europe and from Asia to the East Coast of North America. Assume that the Suez Canal was closed. It would not only affect this percentage, but the price of many commodities in all areas.

I agree with the vision of some that international attention and, hence, intervention reflects the strategic importance of Egypt and its major impact on the regions surrounding it. This [impact] extends over the whole world. This notion highlights the historical significance of Egypt that God mentioned in His Holy Book in 24 places, including what was explicitly pronounced and what was indicated by evidence and interpretation. Some studies have reported that Egypt is mentioned 698 times in the Old and New Testaments.

With all due respect, however, this opinion prompts me to demand intervention to the allowable limits — an intervention that takes into account the interests and the needs of the Egyptian people.

Finally, I confirm that the will of the Egyptian people is [that Egypt] be its own arbiter in the battlefield. Egypt will not permit any foreign power, whatever its tyranny, to change its course. A ruler who does not protect his people will not be secured by foreign invasion.