Kerry Gets the Cold Shoulder

For new U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the first Egypt visit was mission impossible right from the start. But that was not his fault. These days, Egypt is a minefield for U.S. diplomats because Kerry’s predecessors, Rice and Clinton, always paid less attention to Egyptian interests while acting primarily as advocates for Israel.

As usual, the State Department is clueless as to how the U.S. government should deal with the power struggles going on in Egypt. It’s obvious that Washington wants to keep Cairo — the heart of the Arab world — as an ally, but only as an obedient ally. It wants that arrangement whether Egypt is ruled by Mubarak (with America’s blessing), an unelected military junta, a moderate(?) Islamist like Mursi or the popular choice of those in Tahrir Square. This striking arbitrariness under the motto “who cares who’s in charge as long as he’s in our pocket?” is common knowledge in Egypt and is known to all sides.

And it was a bit of Kerry’s own clumsiness when he said, “We’re not here to interfere, but to listen,” and with the next breath called for a new Egyptian government. Irritating at the very least, it was perhaps the reason that Mohammed El-Baradei, a key opposition figure, avoided appearing with Kerry publicly.