Mubarak's 300,000-strong army of thugs remains in business despite elections

The Long View: The military has played a shrewd game – insisting Mubarak go on trial while realigning supporters to preserve their privileges

By Robert Fisk:

June 18, 2012 "The Independent" -- As millions of Egyptians turn their backs on the brave young revolutionaries of Tahrir Square, today is the day to remember old General Mohammed Neguib, who kicked off Egypt's first post-war revolution by plotting the overthrow of King Farouk almost exactly 60 years ago. He and his fellow Egyptian army officers had been debating whether to execute the obese Farouk or send him into exile. Nasser opted to shoot the monarch. Neguib asked for a vote. In the early hours, Nasser wrote a note to Neguib: "The Liberation Movement should get rid of Faruk [sic] as quickly as possible in order to deal with what is more important – namely, the need to purge the country of the corruption that Faruk will leave behind him. We must pave the way towards a new era in which the people will enjoy their sovereign rights and live in dignity. Justice is one of our objectives. We cannot execute Faruk without a trial. Neither can we afford to keep him in jail and preoccupy ourselves with the rights and wrongs of his case at the risk of neglecting the other purposes of the revolution. Let us spare Faruk and send him into exile. History will sentence him to death."

The association of corruption with the ancien regime has been a staple of all revolutions. Justice sounds good. And today's Egyptians still demand dignity. But surely Nasser got it right; better to chuck the old boy out of the country than to stage a distracting and time-consuming trial when the future of Egypt, the "other purposes of the revolution", should be debated. Today's military played an equally shrewd but different game: they insisted Mubarak go on trial – bread and circuses for the masses, dramatic sentences to keep their minds off the future – while realigning the old Mubarakites to preserve their own privileges.

The ex-elected head of the judges' club in Egypt, Zakaria Abdul-Aziz, has rightly pointed out that even if Mubarak was put on trial, the January-February 2011 killing went on for days, "and they [the generals] did not order anyone to stop it. The Ministry of Interior is not the only place that should be cleansed. The judiciary needs that."

It was Mubarak's senior judges who permitted the deposed dictator's last Prime Minister, Ahmed Shafik, to stand in this weekend's run-off for President. As Omar Ashour, an academic in both Exeter and Doha, has observed, "when protesters stormed the State Security Investigations [SSI] headquarters and other governorates in March 2011, torture rooms and equipment were found in every building".

And what happened to the lads who ran these vicious institutions for Mubarak, clad alternatively in French-designed suits or uniforms dripping with epaulettes? They got off scot-free. Here are some names for The Independent's readers to stick in their files: Hassan Abdul-Rahman, head of the SSI; Ahmed Ramzi, head of Central Security Forces (CSF); Adly Fayyed, head of "Public Security"; Ossama Youssef, head of the Giza Security Directorate; Ismail al-Shaer, boss of the Cairo Security Directorate – "shaer", by the way, means "poet" – and Omar Faramawy, who ran the 6 October Security Directorate.

I will not use the words "culture of impunity" – as Omar Ashour does without irony – but the acquittal of the above gentlemen means that Mubarak's 300,000-strong SSI and CSF thugs are still in business. It is impossible to believe the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces – still running Egypt and commanded by Mubarak's old mate Field Marshal Tantawi – was unaware of the implications of this extraordinary state of affairs. If Mubarak represented Faruk, and his sons Gamal and Alaa the future leaders of the royal family, then the 2011 Egyptian revolution represented 1952 without the king's exile and with a shadow monarchy still in power.

The belief among journalists and academics that Tahrir Square would fill once again with the young of last year's rebellion, that a new protest movement in its millions would end this state of affairs, has – so far – proved unrealistic. Over the weekend, Egyptians wanted to vote rather than demonstrate – even if the country's security apparatus would end up running the show as usual – and if this is democracy, then it's going to be of the Algerian rather than the Tunisian variety. Maybe I just don't like armies, while Egyptians do.

But let's go back to Neguib. He went aboard the royal yacht in July 1952 to say goodbye to the king he was deposing. "I hope you'll take good care of the army," Farouk told him. "My grandfather, you know, created it." Neguib replied: "The Egyptian army is in good hands." And Farouk's last words to the general? "Your task will be difficult. It isn't easy, you know, to govern Egypt..."

Neguib concluded that governing would be easier for the military because "we were at one with the Egyptian people". Indeed. Then Nasser kicked out Neguib, prisons reopened and torturers were installed. Then came General Sadat and General Mubarak. And now?
 

Copyright The Independent

EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION: A STORY OF TORTURE AND PERVERTED COLLUSION

Just when Fatima Bouchar thought it couldn't get any worse, the Americans forced her to lie on a stretcher and began wrapping tape around her feet. They moved upwards, she says, along her legs, winding the tape around and around, binding her to the stretcher. They taped her stomach, her arms and then her chest. She was bound tight, unable to move.

Bouchar says there were three Americans: two tall, thin men and an equally tall woman. Mostly they were silent. She never saw their faces: they dressed in black and always wore black balaclavas. Bouchar was terrified. They didn't stop at her chest – she says they also wound the tape around her head, covering her eyes. Then they put a hood and earmuffs on her. She was unable to move, to hear or to see. "My left eye was closed when the tape was applied," she says, speaking about her ordeal for the first time. "But my right eye was open, and it stayed open throughout the journey. It was agony." The journey would last around 17 hours. ...

Belhaj says he was blindfolded, hooded, forced to wear ear defenders, and hung from hooks in his cell wall for what seemed to be hours. He says he was severely beaten. The ear defenders were removed only for him to be blasted with loud music, he says, or when he was interrogated by his US captors.

Bouchar says that when she was dragged away from her husband she feared he was going to be killed. "I thought: 'This is it.' I thought I would never see my husband again ... They took me into a cell, and they chained my left wrist to the wall and both my ankles to the floor. I could sit down but I couldn't move. There was a camera in the room, and every time I tried to move they rushed in. But there was no real communication. I wasn't questioned." Bouchar found it difficult to comprehend how she could be treated in this way: she was four-and-a-half months pregnant. "They knew I was pregnant," she says. "It was obvious." She says she was given water while chained up, but no food whatsoever. She was chained to the wall for five days. At the end of this period she was taped to the stretcher and put aboard the aircraft, unaware of where she was going or whether her husband was on board. At one point the aircraft landed, remained on the ground for a short period and then took off again. Only when it landed a second time did she hear a man grunting with pain, and realise her husband was nearby. ...

Two weeks after the couple were rendered to Libya, Tony Blair paid his first visit to the country, embracing Gaddafi and declaring that Libya had recognised "a common cause, with us, in the fight against al-Qaida extremism and terrorism". At the same time, in London, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell announced that it had signed a £110 million deal for gas exploration rights off the Libyan coast. ...

The ordeal of Fatima Bouchar, detailed by Ian Cobain in the Guardian, exemplifies the vile essence of the 'Terror War' being conducted by United States and its abject satellite, Great Britain. It is a case of brutal torture against an innocent, defenseless pregnant woman, whose only "crime" was to be married to a man who belonged to an organization which had long been supported by the US and UK -- until the geopolitics of oil made the group expendable. It is a tale of cowardice and cruelty, of hypocrisy and corruption, of deliberate atrocity that exacerbates the extremism it purports to combat. It is the emblem of an evil system ordered, countenanced, championed and protected at the very highest levels of the two governments -- a system that is very much still in operation today.

Bouchar was married to Abdel Hakim Belhaj, a member of a group seeking to overthrow Moamar Gadafy in Libya. For 10 years, members of the group had been given asylum in Britain and other countries. According to credible reports, they were being supported by British intelligence in their efforts to oust the Libyan dictator. Then Gadafy began negotiating his deal with George W. Bush and Tony Blair to open up Libyan oil fields to the West. Suddenly, his enemies became enemies of the West; as in Afghanistan, stalwart "freedom fighters" were transformed into "terrorists" overnight, when the agenda of the West's corporate overlords demanded it.

(Guardian and Information Clearing House)

DUBAI'S fear of Freedom

Dubai' police chief Dahi Khalfan's row with the Muslim Brotherhood broke out after the UAE decided not to renew residence permits of Syrians who had taken part in protests in Dubai against the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The move was criticised by an Professor Qaradawi in Qatar, who also denounced the move to pull citizenship from Emirati Islamists.

Khalfan lashed out at Qaradawi, threatening to arrest him if he set foot in Dubai, and on Tuesday said the Brotherhood was plotting to seize power in Gulf countries. "Western intelligence services leaked to me a piece of information that says that between 2012 and 2016 the (Muslim Brotherhood) aims at creating governments in the Gulf that pay allegiance to them," he told reporters. He said those who compare the UAE government to Egypt and Tunisia under autocratic rule should be prosecuted.

"They demand the ruler should be from amongst the people. Did we bring ours from Mars?" he said.

 (Reuters)

US Book Burning in the 21st Century

1,652 books were stacked on the floor and tables for removal, including some Korans, many other religious or scholarly texts, and a number of secular works, including novels and poetry.

“So the decision is ‘We are going to burn these books,’ ”a US military officer said.

When the work detail began to heave the books into the flames, an Afghan laborer standing nearby drew close nad he realized what was happening and began to scream. For him and others it was a nightmare come to life. “One of my friends called to me, ‘The Americans are burning our holy books,’ and we rushed over there,” said Mohammed Zafar, 24, who has worked for five years as a laborer near the gate.

As the Afghan laborers tried to extinguish the flames with their water bottles, at least one laborer plunged into the smoldering ashes to retrieve the books.  (New York Times)

Tearing Down another Wall of Shame

When Israel murdered 5 Egyptian police officers inside Egypt, its citizens demanded the expulsion of Israel's ambassador. Egypt's rulers were hesitant and did not act. Instead, Egypt's military council built a prefab concrete wall designed to protect Israel's embassy. This further enraged Egyptians who see the wall as a symbol of apartheid, a reminder of the separation wall on Palestine's West Bank which remains an emblem of injustice. It also invokes the humiliating peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, a degrading piece of legacy of rewarding the aggressor and the unjust.

So, they, the demonstrators took it upon themselves to force the ambassador and its staff to flee. This is people's power, the very source of authority that makes extraordinary things happen. Israel fears another intifada, it got hurt in Lebanon twice over and it failed to break the people of Gaza. The Arab Spring may well turn out to be its worst nightmare. What dark and dirty secrets lie in those Cairo embassy papers? 

The US is scrambling clutching at citing the Vienna Conventions to protect Israel's interests in Cairo. How hypocritical can one get to flaunt the Geneva Conventions when it was convenient to do so to prolong the torture and torment of Guantanamo, rendition and "black sites" detainees. Israel is now a pariah state and the world would want no part or company with it except for US-Old Europe lobbyists and political expediency.

Libya: Treachery, Made in USA and UK

The Central Intelligence Agency and Gaddafi's Libyan intelligence services developed such a tight relationship during the George W. Bush administration that the U.S. shipped terror suspects (extraordinary rendition) to Libya for torture and interrogation, and suggested the questions they should be asked, according to documents found in Libya's External Security agency headquarters.

The relationship was close enough that the CIA moved to establish "a permanent presence" in Libya in 2004, according to a note from Stephen Kappes, at the time the No. 2 in the CIA's clandestine service, to Libya's then-intelligence chief, Moussa Koussa.

It has been also revealed that Britain's MI6 'worked with the Gaddafi regime'. Evidence has emerged of close cooperation between British intelligence and the regime of Colonel Gaddafi.

Documents found at the abandoned office of Libya’s former spymaster appear to provide new details of the close relations the Central Intelligence Agency shared with the Libyan intelligence service — most notably suggesting that the Americans sent terrorism suspects at least eight times for questioning in Libya despite that country’s reputation for torture.

The documents claim that MI6 supplied its counterparts in Libya with details on exiled opponents living in the UK, and chart how the CIA abducted several suspected militants before handing them over to Tripoli.

They also contain communications between British and Libyan security officials ahead of Tony Blair's visit in 2004, and show that British officials helped write a draft speech for Gaddafi when he was being encouraged to give up his weapons programme. The speech that appears to have been drafted for Colonel Qaddafi was found in the C.I.A. folder and appears to have been sent just before Christmas in 2003. The one-page speech seems intended to depict the Libyan dictator in a positive light.

No wonder Gaddafi kept or stashed his billions of dollars in the US, UK and Europe when it was cosy and convenient, losing it to their sanctions imposition when they decided to ditch him. The new transitional council's leadership (NTC) ought to be wary in dealing with those who brought them to victory, for they might end up like their former Brother Leader Gaddafi.

Al Ghuraba - The Outcast

He came to Afghanistan as a stranger and reached his demise in Pakistan as an outcast. He fits the epitome of the ghuraba. To his enemies, they celebrate his death and he has perished forever prevented from threathening them but by his own mission he has achieved martyrdom.

Being constantly hounded and hunted, he has been hyped according to dubious political agendas. He was alive and well being amazingly able to deliver video messages and communiques with ease in the time of Bush. His persistent threats kept alive Bush's penchant for invasion, occupation and war as well as ensuring Bush's re-election. His death made out Obama as a war hero and rekindled Obama's re-election chances despite rapidly declining popularity.

Who he really was is sketchy and there is much which is unavailable except for rare interviews mostly involving western journalists. He was a recluse who was always on the run and forever a target for assassination ever since he took to undertake jihad in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. His comrades such as Dr Abdullah Azzam and Sheikh Anwar Shaaban were assassinated as well as many others who were marked with death from the beginning of their global resistance movement.

He was said to be a project manager for his family's construction company responsible for the renovation and enhancement of the Haram al Sharif. In his university days he was moved by the sermons and admired Dr Azzam's call to practical jihad and to rise up to fight injustice. He went to Afghanistan to join the resistance to fight the Soviet occupiers. He set up guest houses for foreign volunteers and he brought construction equipment and expertise to construct infrastructure and underground hospitals for the jihad. His charisma and personal friendship with fellow Saudis to the highest levels ensured material and full support for his efforts.

During those days, he was a hero to Muslims and to the West who were fighting their proxy war against the Russian communists. Reagan once described the mujahideen as similar to America's founding fathers in praising their resolute resistance.

After the Soviets were defeated and left the country, he was disillusioned by the severe and relentless disunity among bickering mujahideen factions leading to protracted civil war and self destruction over again. He was there in a failed gathering among mujahideen leaders to reach a political understanding led by Dr Abdullah Naseef. He kept listening to leaders saying mustahil - impossible - to every option offered.

When he returned to Saudi Arabia, he was especially disappointed with the kingdom's decision to invite US armed forces over Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. He had also enjoined reform supporting dissident ulama in submitting a memorandum to the kingdom's rulers which resulted in a harsh response. Saudi Arabia which once heaped praise on him and gave him support was then not safe for him anymore.

He left Saudi Arabia and went to Sudan which declared itself as dawlah al tamkin - the state of shariah-undertaking construction work for the fledgling Islamic state. Many followed him to Sudan being their only place of shelter, refuge and sanction. By this time, he already had a very high price on his head. The other members of the mujahideen had been hunted down in their own countries and arrested, there were no place to go. So they all went along to Sheikh Osama.

Others went to fight in Bosnia being well received in the beginning. Later on in Bosnia as they showed themselves to be quite capable in combat operations against the Serbs, Nato came down hard on them forcing them to leave the country which they had helped in the hour of need. Again many were assassinated and arrested.

After a series of terror bombings on civilians in Africa and US military barracks in Khobar, he was publicly declared the terrorist responsible. The US launched cruise missiles against targets in Sudan.

Under severe pressure, Sudan forced the ouster of Osama. The President of Afghanistan invited him back and he returned to the country which was still most welcoming. He was seen to be leaning towards the Taliban in the civil war supporting them and giving them his allegiance when they swept to power in Kabul.

After an attack on a US navy ship in Yemen, the mujahideen camps in Afghanistan were targets for more cruise missiles. He was then already persistently targeted to be killed. He made his infamous declaration of war against the US and its allies blaming them and the Zionists for the gross injustice and occupation of the Muslim lands including the land of the holy places, Saudi Arabia.

After 9/11, he was blamed for the attacks which led to another invasion of Afghanistan and his disappearance for a long time until that fateful day in Abbottabad.

Robert Fisk commented that he should have been brought to justice and allowed due process. In fact Fisk said the injustices suffered by the Muslims throughout has to be addressed so that there was no reason for anyone to decide to attack America or its interests.

Instead Osama was shot and killed by a death squad and his body thrown into the sea out of fear or whatever intriguing reasons still unknown. He remained an outcast hurled into the vast Arabian sea.