One man's revolution is another's military coup

A recent interview on RT news channel broadcast former head of the Arab League and prominent opposition member Amr Moussa pointing out that democracy is not just down to the polls.

“It’s not enough to have the ballot box approving you and then you just sit and enjoy your life and let the people go down the drain” declared Moussa in reference to Mohamed Morsi.

The argument goes that because the ousted President entrenched division and deepened economic woes, millions took to the streets on June 30 to demand his removal through a popular uprising.

Based on this, the army were justified in responding to calls from the Egyptian masses who demanded his ouster and the events of July 4 were not a military coup but a revolution.

Those who peddle this argument can be divided into two categories. Those who have openly applauded the new Egypt and those who simply sit on the fence, avoiding the term ‘military coup’ as though it is infectious.

The former camp is made up of a handful of affluent Gulf monarchies – Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain – who have offered a combined $12 billion dollars to the new Egyptian government post Mohamed Morsi.

The latter is headed by Obama, who has dodged the term ‘military coup’ in what has become widely acknowledged as an attempt to justify his $1.5 billion military aid package to Egypt.

Following closely behind are a circle of British politicians – William Hague, David Cameron, and Douglas Alexander – who have condemned reports of violence but made no public reference to the coup.

Last week Tony Blair, Middle East envoy, was recorded in a video published in the Guardian supporting the events in Egypt on the grounds that intervention was better than the reality of what Morsi created.

“The army were in a situation where if they didn’t intervene they were going to slide into total chaos” said the former Prime Minister who stirred up huge controversy in the past when he accepted a Christmas holiday in Egypt courtesy of Mubarak.

There are both British and American politicians who oppose their standpoint. Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator John McCain have called on the US government to stop the $1.5 billion of funding they currently give Egypt.

Former foreign secretary David Miliband said on the BBC, “I think we’ve got to be clear this was a coup” and insisted political Islam be accepted in the name of democracy.

Professor Federico Mayor Zaragoza, ex- chairman of UNESCO for 12 years, has also severely criticised Europe for its standpoint on the military coup in Egypt.

He agreed that Morsi made errors, but he was democratically elected and this should be respected. He added that Europe was losing its credit in the world as a result of this.

Sadly, whilst many in Europe and the US are quick to implement their own farcical democracy in Iraq, they are nowhere to be seen when it is really at stake.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.