Egypt’s President Speaks Out: Hamas Has to Lose

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http://www.poligazette.com/2009/01/06/e ... s-to-lose/

Egypt's President Speaks Out: Hamas Has to Lose


Egypt's President Speaks Out: Hamas Has to Lose
January 6th, 2009 By: Michael van der Galien | Tags:
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After letting leading figures of his country's parliament, actors and journalists wage a rhetorical war on Hamas, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has finally spoken out himself. He did so during a conversation with an EU delegation which went to the Middle East in order to come up with some kind of compromise regarding the Israel-Hamas crisis.

Mubarak told the EU delegation that Hamas cannot be allowed to win. He told the delegation that he had proposed a ceasefire agreement to both sides, which would require Israel to withdraw from Gaza and to break up its blockade while Hamas would have to agree to stop firing rockets at Israel.

Egypt's president is playing with fire. One of his predecessors was murdered by Muslim extremists after he went to Israel for a peace mission; he signed a peace agreement with the Israelis which cost him a lot of support domestically and finally resulted in his death. Mubarak is obviously aware of the fate of his famous predecessor Anwar Sadat so he has to be aware of the great risks he is taking by speaking out against Hamas publicly. Since Egypt has a serious Islamist problem, one gets the impression that Mubarak has truly had it with Hamas and that he does not fear Islamists as much as he once did. Perhaps, one could say, he improve his country's security agencies and ability to fight terrorists.

Mubarak led talks between Hamas and Israel for months in 2008. He tried to convince the terrorist organization to agree to an extension of the peace deal already in place. Hamas refused, however, and started launching hundreds of rockets at Israel immediately after the temporary ceasefire ended. Since Hamas clearly showed Egypt that it does care about Cairo's opinion, Cairo has now turned on Hamas, letting them feel the consequences of acting in defiance of one of the region's most powerful states.

Meanwhile, Turkey - which was Israel and America's traditional area in the region for decades - has taken a different path ever since the crisis erupted. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the Israeli operation "inhumane" and told a pro-AK Parti crowd in a small municipality that God would punish Israel for its crimes. Additionally, he said, Israel's operation would eventually lead to its own destruction.

These are words other, secular and Kemalist leaders of Turkey would never have spoken. They can be interpreted as definite proof that Turkey is moving to the East rather than West under Erdogan's leadership. Interesting enough it seems that Egypt is filling the gap Turkey is leaving behind somewhat (somewhat because one should not exaggerate Turkey's current attitude either; it is likely that realpolitik will eventually triumph). Where Turkey might be moving to the East, Egypt is moving to the West, at least for now. The West and Israel would be wise to exploit these recent developments: it should be made clear to Erdogan that his drift to the East is not appreciated while Egypt should be rewarded for its change in tone.

One of the ways in which to reward Egypt is to let Mubarak be in charge of peace talks. If Mubarak not Erdogan eventually succeeds in bringing both sides together he will be a hero to many and he will be able to defend himself attacks from domestic Islamists and religious conservatives by arguing that his approach resulted in peace, which they would never have accomplished with their extreme views. Erdogan, on the other hand, would be humiliated for Turks would once again see that Turkey would lose its role of regional leader if it moves too much to the East.

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[MikeWB]

Time to overthrow this dictator.

[mastermg]

Mubarak can suck my dick

[Ognir]

iNDEED

[§N9sh2bj]

The article is a lot of shite. Hamas, founded and fully infiltrated by Israeli Shin Bet/Mossad.

Why does this mainstream crap keep getting reposted in it's entirety here?

Initially, it was too difficult to read when the article began comparing Mubarak with Sadat. Thus began the definitive slippery slide down the poop-covered slope.

I did read on then, if only so there would be no accusations of missing some of the 'finer' head-twisting points of the article.  What continued was more of the same shit. Paid CiA reporters who write made-up nonsense and speculation based on agendas don't suddenly 'see the light' 50% of the way through!

Hamas, a thin veil of an excuse for Israel to blow up the rest of the civilian Palestinian population. Period. End of story.