Mahmoud Badr, one of the co-founders of the “Tamarud-Rebel” movement in Egypt that toppled President Morsi, has a grim view of the possibilities for a quick return of democracy to Egypt. He is quoted by Reuters as saying that “the bloodshed that has followed is a necessary price for saving the nation from the Muslim Brotherhood.” Moreover he seems unmoved by the threat that the US might suspend its aid to Egypt if the military does not take steps to reconcile with the Muslim Brotherhood: “Obama can keep it – and ‘go to hell’.” The rhetoric augurs ill for a quick end to the current violence and suggests that Egyptian “liberals” are settling in for a long civil war with the Brotherhood. The US has succeeded in alienating virtually all its allies in the Middle East by its dithering over the coup. All its allies except Israel, which has welcomed the return of the Egyptian military,
Last week, Doctors Without Borders announced that it was pulling out of Somalia because conditions on the ground were too dangerous for its personnel. Now we learn that Somali is experiencing an explosive outbreak of polio, more than in all other countries combined. Polio is a devastating disease which has largely been controlled by aggressive vaccination programs. But many of the children in Somalia are in territory controlled by the group, Al Shabab whose rule is opposed to any Western presence.
The leaders of several South African countries have endorsed the re-election of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. The loser in the election, Morgan Tsvangirai, had charged fraud in the election and both the US and the European Union have raised many questions about the conduct of the election. The endorsement, however, seems to settle the controversy, at least in a regional sense.
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