In the eyes of tens of millions of anti-Muslim Brotherhood Egyptians, Senators John McCain’s and Lindsey Graham’s recent remarks in Egypt—including that the June 30 Revolution was a “military coup” and calls to release Muslim Brotherhood members accused of terrorism and incitement—have unequivocally proven that U.S. leadership is in bed with the Brotherhood, angering many Egyptians. A quick survey of the reactions from the government, TV personalities, and regular Egyptian people certainly demonstrates as much.
For example, the top advisor to Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour formally accused McCain of distorting facts around and dismissed his remarks as “irrational”—or, more colloquially, “moronic.” The leader of the youth movement, Tamarod (or “Rebellion” against the Brotherhood) which played a major role in mobilizing tens of millions of Egyptians to launch the June 30 Revolution, said “We reject John McCain and call on the international community to let the [Egyptian] people decide their own fate.” Others, like Ahmed al-Zind, head of the Egyptian Judge Club, have gone so far as to call for the arrest and trial of McCain for “trying to destroy Egypt.” But perhaps secular political commentator, Ahmed Musa—who said that McCain and Graham made more shameless demands than the Brotherhood themselves would dare”—best summarized the popular Egyptian opinion:
He [McCain] is not a man elected by the American people to speak on their behalf; today, he speaks on behalf of an armed terrorist organization—the Muslim Brotherhood… We had expected [better] from these two men who came to speak with the tongue of the Brotherhood’s leadership, as if they had been recruited as two new leaders of the Brotherhood, which killed, destroyed, and burned in al-Muqattam, and now in Rab‘a al-Adawiya [the main Brotherhood militant camp]. The only thing missing is to see them [McCain and Graham] in Rab‘a, surrounded by armed groups, and in their midst Muhammad Badie [supreme leader of Brotherhood] and Anne Patterson. That’s all that’s missing! Here comes Brother McCain today saying that we must “release the [Brotherhood] prisoners”…. are you not aware that these people are accused of murder? Are you not aware that hundreds of Egyptians have been killed at the hands of the Brotherhood, Morsi, Shatter, Qatatni, Badie, Baltagi—have you forgotten? Did you not read the report on what happened? Or did you just blindly accept your ambassador’s [Anne Patterson] words that it was a coup, that 33 million people did not go out?
By Coptic Solidarity