What Will Obama Do About Egypt?

From Barry Rubin:

So far, it looks like Obama is determined to be the protector of oppressive dictatorship in Egypt, which Obama formerly complained about when prior presidents did just that. Specifically, U.S. diplomats are now urging a deal: a coalition government in Egypt in which the Brotherhood has part of the power.

You can imagine how well that would work, and how grateful the Brotherhood (much less the Salafists) and their opponents will be to Obama for proposing they surrender. In other words: the army, the former opposition, and the Islamists … in short, all of the Egyptian people, no matter which side they are on, will see America as an enemy.

The Obama administration has called on Egyptian leaders to pursue “a transparent political process that is inclusive of all parties and groups,” including “avoiding any arbitrary arrests of Mursi and his supporters.” Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said this on July 4 in a statement.

I don’t recall such a statement ever being made in criticism of the Mursi regime.

According to Bloomberg News:

Two U.S. officials who asked not to be identified commenting on [Obama's] private communications said the administration is concerned that some in the military may want to provoke the violence and provide a rationale for crushing the movement once and for all.

Then, the critical statement that explains Obama’s Middle East policy. Pay close attention:

Such a move would fail and probably prompt a shift to al-Qaeda-type terrorist tactics by extremists in the Islamist movement in Egypt and elsewhere, the U.S. officials said.

What is this statement implying? Remember this is a White House policy statement. It clearly notes that the White House believes that if the Muslim Brotherhood or perhaps the Salafists are denied power in Muslim-majority countries, theycannot be defeated, and further, will be radicalized to pursue September 11-style attacks on America.

In other words, the United States must surrender and betray its allies or else it faces disaster.

This is called surrender and appeasement. And, besides, such a move would fail.

But: we now have a public statement describing a coherent Obama policy. Inquire no more, this is it.