(MENAFN - Arab Times) IT SEEMS the Egyptians have not learnt from what happened before and what is currently happening around them.
They have neither benefited from the bitter Libyan experience nor have they contemplated on Iraq's experience. Egypt will not see any light if the current situation continues in a manner which leads the country to destruction and wreckage of its institutions, in addition to its efforts to incapacitate the military institution and prevent it from moving the country towards safe grounds where they will hand over leadership to the civilians.
Egypt's current situation does not differ from that of Iraq in 2003 when its people were liberated from Saddam's dictatorship and torture. However at the time, the dominating force wanted to dissolve state institutions and the army - a move which opened the door for terrorist forces to control every aspect; thereby, fragmenting Iraq into small countries. Everything happened under the guise of 'uprooting the Baathists'. Was every civil servant or military personnel in Iraq a Baathist? Did everyone working with the Baathist regime believe in its policies or were they just forced to affiliate with the regime to preserve and secure the least element of livelihood? And now in Egypt, will anyone or anything associated with Hosni Mubarak be considered related to his regime so they need to be uprooted?
Talks on troops in the past regime are only meant for finding a scapegoat to settle personal and political scores, in addition to attacking those who are not loyal to the political Islamist groups - the Salafists and Muslim Brotherhood - in their bid to dominate every aspect of the country and to monopolize leadership, while on the other hand, these groups are deep into corruption, masquerade and political deception. There is no better evidence than the scandals being revealed about some of their members.
Not everyone who claims to practise the Islamic Sharia is true to himself. This is what the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist extremist political group have told the people of Egypt and Arabs in general. Both groups want to monopolize religion according to their point of view. They act as if 80 million Egyptians do not know their religion and its teachings; and as if they have not been practising their religion in the past centuries until now, the day when someone comes to teach them about the basic elements of their religion. He either performs 'Salat' in parliamentary sessions or deceives people, telling them he will not nominate anyone who might represent him, only to surprise them later through the nomination of numerous people from his party.
The current situation in Egypt cannot be taken apart from the efforts of these groups to ruin the country. What can they get from casting doubt on the military institution which protects the people of one of the largest Arab countries in tough times, while the political Islamist groups are busy sabotaging the national economy?
These groups, which have divergent beliefs and are engaged in political deception, think that winning the election gives them freedom to tamper with State institutions and the society, despite knowing that their victory was due to the coalition and the political turmoil, which requires them to stick together in order to hold on to what they have achieved so far. Their moves have cost Egypt more than what they lost during the 30-year rule of Mubarak; that is if it loses tenth of what it endures daily from the malpractices of Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists who poke their noses in everything, starting from restructuring the social structure and international relations.
The question which occupies most of the people at the moment is: Where do these people want to take Egypt to after what it has been through in the past few months? Will Egypt bear it if it gets marginalized and alienated, while it continues to grapple with the high unemployment rate and investment conflicts? Is this the reform the people of Egypt requested when they took to the streets?
Time will prove that the incident on Feb 11, 2011 was a huge mistake, because the main objective was to reform the State and to give way to frivolous forces which ruined the nation. Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq are the best examples to where these groups might take Egypt.
Yes, the military is the security of Egypt and it needs to put its weight on the matter, or else, it will commit a huge mistake. It should not be intimidated by some demonstrations in various places, even if millions participated in these demonstrations, because a million people who gather in Tahrir Square do not represent the entire Egypt.
By: Ahmed Al-Jarallah
