Mubarak : US used and dumped a “friendâ€ÂÂÂ: Lesson for all aspiring friends!
Posted on June 24th, 2012
Shenali Waduge
Hosni Mubarak the Pharoah of Egypt that reigned for over 3 decades is now said to be clinically dead. There is hardly a handful who would even say a word of praise for a man who was once openly declared to be ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-an ally and friend of the USƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. Unfortunately, none of the worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s worst ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-dictatorsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ had the wisdom to understand what it costs to be termed a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-friendƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ but what they all decided to do was to use the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-friendshipƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ tag to loot their own nation and deny their people the rights and liberties they deserved. The US and West cared little of human rights or democracy when they shook hands with these dictators because the deals they struck had nothing to do with the people of these countries and everything to do with delivering to the West their strategic wish listsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.so in many ways all these ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-friendlyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ dictators deserve their fate and let it be a lesson to all others aspiring to become a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-friendƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of the US/West.
In choosing its favored ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-dictatorsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ all that the West looks for in terms of criteria is that these locals are ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-easyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ for the West to deal with. This implies that these dictators are ever ready to give whatever the West desires and in turn the West promises to turn a blind eye to any horrors that these dictators may involve themselves in.
What sealed the fate of MubarakƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s predecessor was to ensure MubarakƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s rise to fame. Anwar Sadat was assassinated for his reluctance over the peace treaty and Mubarak became leader of Egypt and poodle of the West ready to be the facililtator for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, he gave US free use of Egypt for its military exercises, he was a foe of the Islamic terrorist organizations and he did everything that the West wanted him to do.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Mubarak quickly implemented emergency laws and expanded police powers. As the darling of the West, with the tag called ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-allyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, Mubarak was handsomely rewarded and every ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-undemocraticƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ act of Mubarak was assured to be ignored. Such was the compromise of the deals struck with all ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-friendsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of the US/West.
The rise of Islamic fundamentalists is nothing to be surprised over for in many ways the roots of their existence can be followed to the very sources that propagate the need to rid the world of fundamentalism and militancy. We should not be too surprised how many of these fundamental Islamic groups are flourishing and who is perhaps arming them. To understand this all one needs to do is to watch the nature of the conflict in Afghanistan and why Taliban helps the US remain rooted in Afghanistan!
Back in Egypt, Mubarak with the millions given by US was arresting, crushing movements, engineering constitutional amendments guaranteeing the ruling party election victories, subsidizing on essential commodities and was doing everything he shouldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t do to his own people. Mubarak was re-elected 3 times, one-man referendums giving him 90% approval rating, so what created the Tahiri Square revolt by his own people? Mubarak ensured laws were in place to legalize corruption aided by equally corrupt legal experts and Govt officials helped a wholesale loot of EgyptƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s national assets ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the national assets are said to exceed $2.8trillion dollars (American Enterprise Institute).
Can Mubarak and his regime deny that men of integrity, competency and honesty were purged systematically and they were replaced with their cronies?
With time like most dictators he was an Egyptian in Western clothing and living and thinking like the West. Despite claims that his elections were rigged, despite accusations of mass fraud and embezzlement Mubarak remained a staunch ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-friendƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of the West. It behoves to ask why the West chose to be blind to MubarakƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s actions over 30 odd years and why suddenly the West remembered ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-democracyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-human rightsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ for Egyptians in 2011-2012? It was on 25th January 2011 that the people of Egypt demanded the ouster of Mubarak and after 3 weeks of protests Mubarak resigned on 11 February 2011. It does raise eyebrows how much of these protests were genuine!
From there onwards we know how Mubarak was arrested along with his 2 sons and stood trial on charges of corruption and shooting of protestors. As was expected Mubarak denied all charges levied against him and even refused to address the court and was sentenced to life in Torah prison on 2 June 2012.
We may never know what went on in the minds of either Saddam, Gaddafi or Mubarak but one thing is for certain they would never have though their lives would come to what it had. Nor would any of their family members have thought their worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s would crash as they have.
MubarakƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Assets
It should come as no surprise that all US sponsored dictators are looked after well for the allegiance they promise. Thus, while the stories are many the personal wealth of Hosni Mubarak ranges from $40billion to $70billion. Is it then a surprise why leaders succumb to the West when they are lavished with luxuries and their coffers are filled promising them a life of luxury? It certainly explains why inspite of being asked to step down Mubarak preferred to cling to power? Saddam, Gaddafi or Mubarak would ever have thought of life in exile after decades of reigning as Kings of the soil.
When a favored dictator falls out of the scope of being called a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-friendƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ what is to be expected is calls for inquiries and investigations against corruption, criminal activity, looting of state treasures, embezzlementƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.all things that were perhaps ignored or shelved to be brought out at better times. Thus, embassies will be busy issuing letters, investigating bank transfers, foreign banks will be contacted and assets will undoubtedly get frozen. Do dictators and aspiring dictators not know the drill? So can they ever enjoy the riches they have amassed illegally by selling off their nation and their people and becoming detested amongst the masses? Who really wants to be turned from a hero into a zero if it means that none of the riches amassed can ever be really enjoyed?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Yet all dictators end up making this same mistake over and over again. In every way such dictators of foreign Governments deserve every bit of mental agony once ousted for not opening their eyes to learn from the lessons suffered by similar dictators fallen out of favor.
Did Egypt not lose its sovereignty as a result of signing the Camp David agreement? In agreeing to the Camp Dave Peace Treaty with Israel, Egypt was gifted with billions of dollars in US aid. When much of this aid invariably ends up in personal accounts of political leaders would any politician in Egypt give up such a lucrative allegiance?
Is this not why the West turned a blind eye to MubarakƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-undemocraticƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ reign over 3 decades and only after Mubarak was an impediment for US agenda that the West took out all the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-well-documented records of torture and brutal methods of repressionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ during MubarakƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s reign
These are all lessons for nations having similar practices where despite public sector making massive losses the executives end up hoarding millions, in Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s case the COPE report highlights this sad state of affairs clearly.
MubarakƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s fate was further sealed when his own family joined in the looting. MubarakƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s wife is known openly as the Marie Antoinette of France. It was her coterie of favored people that ended up heading most of the state institutes pilfering the Egyptian state. Testimony of the Egyptian Director of Archives claims that she received $2billion for the sale of just ONE stolen antiquities.
While MubarakƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s fortune is said to be in the range of $40 to $70billion, his British-wife SuzanneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s fortune is said to be $5billion whilst his son Gamal is said to have a personal fortune of $17billion. No sooner Mubarak stepped down his wealth hidden in Swiss bank accounts were frozen. The US however has not frozen any accounts though Mubarak was given $2billion that went to his personal account with assets in US real estate as well.
The practice of funneling foreign aid to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-keep peace in the Middle EastƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ ending in personal accounts of dictators is nothing new and nothing that only Mubarak is guilty of and nothing that the US or western officials, humanitarian organizations or others were unaware of as well. Everyone knew the exact nature of how ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-foreign dictatorsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ on the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-friendƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ list of Western governments were looked after. It is only when that relationship goes sour one can see the exact nature of the givers.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ MubarakƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Memoirs
Egypts Rose al-Youssef daily published the first part of MubarakƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s memoirs covering 30 years of rule starting off from his poor childhood where his father was a government employee unable to financially support his children. He had joined the Air Force Academy in 1949 and wore the military uniform since he couldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t afford to buy clothes. In his memoirs Mubarak claims that late President Anwar Sadat ridiculed him for his stupidity but had appointed him his deputy.
The memoirs also reveal his marriage to Suzanne daughter of a British mother and who demanded a life of luxury and looked down on his family especially his mother. The memoirs also reveal that Mubarak paid a monthly salary of $25,000 for the presidency budget to former Israeli Minister of National Infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and only his Chief of Presidential Staff knew about it. As of his relationships with US Presidents, Mubarak cites the best was with Ronald Reagan.
In his last 5 years of his presidency while he retreated it was his wife and sons who were running Egypt to ruin and this may have spurred US to take action. His son Gamal with a group of businessmen friends were taking control of Egypt and turning it into a family-run oligarchy. Suzanne had come to believe that Egypt was destined to have one of MubaraksƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ son to lead the country and that was non-negotiable. Mubarak is said to have admonished his wife saying that she and his sons had ruined him. Though Suzanne Mubarak has not been charged for corrupt practices she has signed a British book deal for 10million pounds for her memoirs to be completed by September 2012 to be titled ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Egypts First Lady, 30 years on the ThroneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
The lists of dictators that the US sponsored and called a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-friendƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ are many and at a time when Sri Lanka is being forced to relook at its foreign policy it behoves us to wonder what carrots are been dangled and for what type of compromises this translates to.
It appears all political leaders around the world given that they are human are often prey to those that tap upon their desire to remain in power. The love of power and glory is something us laymen do not understand but it is no doubt a very strong denominator as they begin to get too comfortable in the seat of power and soon fall prey to those who desire to tag on to them as their favorite advisors..consultants ..etc.
We are well aware of what President Premadasa did not do to ensure he remained eternally in power. Likewise all leaders have ended up victims of soothsayers tempted into carrying out bizarre rituals and practices simply on the promise that they would remain in power and we know the fate of what eventually happened to President Premadasa. Nevertheless, soothsayers have ended up making our leaders victims of the supernatural and steering them into a direction that has only added to the cost born by the masses.
The parallels, the lessons are many and only to those who can perceive the Truth will realize and understand the true nature of governance.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
June 24th, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Peace dividend only benefits Tamils. Others are protesting the unbearable cost of living and poverty. Then government goons kill them to silence them. But that won’t work in the long run.
Voters have been neglected by the government after 2010.
Voters will neglect the government soon.
As in 2001, it only takes people to reach the tipping point. Politicians fearing their future will jump to the opposition. Even with 155 seats this government’s end is not very far.
In the case of Egypt, the US experiment failed badly. Islamic Brotherhood will make havoc in the region. US backed Egyptian military tries to wrest control. New Egyptian president is from the Islamic Brotherhood.
June 25th, 2012 at 7:20 am
Similarly, the US used and dumped Gadaffi. Now they are supporting jihadists who claim to be “Syrian Rebels”…. who are none other than extremist terrorists.
Look what has happened to Libya and Iraq: these once-prosperous and booming nations have been reduced to ruins, the countries set back decades, and jihadist terrorist hooligans have taken over, and are creating mayhem there.
Short-sighted Obama and Clinton are in for some surprises in the near future.
June 27th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
It is difficult to believe the Western countries as to why they want to topple these regimes and hand them over to fundamentalists.I think I can think of two reasons for doing so in the Middle East.First rob their looted assets abroad and allow one of their friendly counties to grab or control their lands.With the rampaging recession in the West these looted assets will be a bonus.They will encourage our idiotic leaders exports assets to their countries until they are retired in to their countries and the ponce on them on various charges until this looted assets are confiscated in some way.Assets in someone else’s name will not save them and this process is in operation under various disguises in these countries.I know several dissapore people are under surveillance where their assets are frozen.These authorities seems to know their back grounds prior they acquiring these vast sums.Reason is simple as they too are made to account to offences very trivial to that occurs in the third world and they end up losing their jobs as politicians and disgracefully going to jail,so they wouldn’t allow anyone from overseas to do the same in a bigger way and get a way with it.So they are being warned.I too was under their scope several time rightfully and I genuinely earned my assets which I had to prove to their satisfaction and because of my connections in SL I am expected to be watched.Honesty and hard work is the best policy.I work daily till 3AM to achieve honestly what I have.It’s2 AM exactly and have 1 or 2 hours to go.Wealth doesn’t come easly until you work hard to get it.