The Egyptian Army Says: "No to a Coup Against Morsi"

Petitions are being circulated by a movement called "TAMARROD" (Mutiny).  Its objective is to effect President Morsi's recall.  This seemingly democratic process aims at deposing the first-popularly elected President in the 10,000 years of Egypt's recorded history.  It does not matter that that movement is doomed to failure.  It is a secularist movement which is leaderless, and is attempting to confront a highly organized Muslim Brotherhood.

TAMARROD is the flip side of earlier petitions calling on General Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Egypt's Defense Minister to "save the country from the present chaos."  On May 12, El-Sisi declared unequivocally that "the armed forces are far from contemplating a return to governance."

By saying no to a coup, El-Sisi was also chiding both the Islamists and their fractious opposition for not coming together to end the present stalemate in governance.  Speaking at the military exercises of the Ninth Mechanised Division, General El-Sisi addressed the various opposition factions as follows: "You should reach a consensus formula amongst yourselves.  Otherwise, the alternative is very dangerous."

Simultaneously the Minister of Defense was counter-attacking those who, through manipulation by the media, keep on spreading rumors about a breach between the armed forces and the police.  "This army is like fire with which you should not play."  Then he pointedly added: "But it is not fire to be directed against its own people."

In these utterances addressed at various constituencies, El-Sisi was also mindful of the popular affection in which the armed forces are held.  After all, it is the only remaining cohesive force in the new Egypt.  "Of course, I am respectful of those who are now calling upon the armed forces to leave the barracks and come down to the street," he said.  Then he added: "But the armed forces are not the solution.  You should not be impatient, or angry.  For standing for 10 or 15 hours in line to cast your ballots is better than going on a rampage destroying your country."

All of El-Sisi's declarations, though aiming at the internal front, were made at a time when the external front was being threatened by terrorist infiltrators.  To the east, the Sinai front was under constant security threats from bedouin marauders and rogue Gazan elements.  The gas pipeline to both Jordan and Israel has been repeatedly attacked, and elements of the army and police were constantly ambushed.  And through the western borders with Libya, arms and contraband flowed into Egypt without interruption.

In the context of that chaos, the Egyptian Minister of Interior, General Muhammad Ibrahim, announced on May 11 that a terrorist cell with links to Al-Qaeda has been discovered in Cairo. The aim of that cell, he alleged, was to attack the French Embassy (presumably for France's military thrust against terrorists in Mali) in Cairo and to sabotage the Cairo metro.