Military Vs. Muslim Brotherhood In Egypt

Revolution, democracy and coup d’etat  all on a high wire in Egypt.

Egypt’s Arab Spring uprising early last year was epic.  Massive crowds in Tahrir Square roaring for democracy as the dictator Mubarak was sent packing.  But Egypt’s “deep state” – its entrenched military overlords – went nowhere.

Last week, they struck back.  Dissolved a newly-elected Parliament.  Claimed law-making power.  Prepared to write their own constitution, even as Egyptians voted for a new president.  Now the military’s greatest foe – the Muslim Brotherhood – says its man has won the presidency.

This hour, On Point:  vote counting and counter-revolution in Egypt.
-Tom Ashbrook

Nancy Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers' Middle East Bureau chief.

Samer Shehata, assistant professor of Arab politics at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University.

Hossam Bahgat, a human rights lawyer, activist and founder and director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

Foreign Policy "In March 2011, I paid a visit to Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC), located on the banks of the Nile in the Cairo suburb of Maadi. Two things immediately struck me. First, there was a tank parked outside of a structure that hardly seemed to be a military site. Second, the court was a beehive of activity. Since at the time Egypt had no constitution, I could not figure out why the employees were so busy."

The Guardian "Egypt is suffering under worse conditions now that under the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, Mohamed ElBaradei has told the Guardian, and it is on the brink of allowing a "new emperor" to establish total domination over the country."

The New York Times "Egypt’s military rulers formally dissolved Parliament Friday, state media reported, and security forces were stationed around the building on orders to bar anyone, including lawmakers, from entering the chambers without official notice. "