During the past 12 hours I have been reading a book called "Into the hands of Soldiers" by David Kirkpatrick, and American journalist. I am so engrossed in the book I cannot put it down. A good read but get it quickly before it's banned in Egypt.

Kindle version is out in a few days so I doubt any ban in Egypt would be effective.

Whether Kirkpatrick will be returning to Cairo is another matter.

Recent events in Zimbabwe seem curiously similar in many ways. Plus ça change......

I think there will be a ban in Egypt Newc. when they get to know about it, you know what it's like. However a ban will only intensify the amount of people trying to get their hands on it. I have recently been on a long distant flight and managed to finish it before I got back. Very revealing and some part's revealed the author's disbelief, anger and fright. Covers the revolution and the quashing of the Arab Spring. Revealing that only Tunisia manged to cope and change with uprisings in a moral and sensible way. If you get it and read it let us know what you think?

The book is a fascinating read. The following extract (answering how and why America stood on the sidelines while a democratically elected government was overthrown) is a chilling account of diplomatic pragmatism in action :


Years later, Kerry told me that the Americans who had opposed Morsi’s ouster were naïve about the region. “Everybody sits back and makes a judgment on a place like Egypt or the Middle East right now based on such a classic American mistake: they make suppositions about what it ought to be and what Egyptians ought to do based on our situation, our view of life, and our view of the world,” Kerry said.

“But the problem is, that is usually completely divorced from the reality on the ground and what other actors are doing. We see things only through our own lens and our own ideals. “In Egypt, what was the alternative?” he continued. “It wasn’t Jeffersonian democracy. Was it Morsi? Or the Salafists? Or was it Sisi and company, and the establishment that has been there awhile? Are they democratic ? No. Are they something to brag about at home? No. But over whatever number of years we have put about eighty billion dollars into Egypt. Most of the time, this is the kind of government they had— almost all of the time. And the reality is, no matter howmuch I wish it was different, it ain’t going to be different tomorrow.”

To defend Morsi at the expense of alienating Israel and the Persian Gulf monarchies made no sense to Kerry. He needed those allies for higher priorities. He was focusing on the nuclear deal with Iran, the Syrian civil war, and a Palestinian peace agreement. He did not want to “get into a fight with them over something as historically clear as how Egypt works,” Kerry told me. “If we just say, ‘Hey, you guys , we are washing our hands, you are done,’ then guess what? Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and all the other countries, including Israel, will be right there, one hundred percent. They are all, at heart, in the same frame of mind.”

In their customary roles, a secretary of state lobbies for concerns like rights , democracy, and long-term stability while the secretary of defense speaks for immediate security interests. But in this debate both Cabinet members lined up on the same side. The loudest voice in the White House for rights and democracy, Samantha Power, was absent, preparing for her confirmation as ambassador to the United Nations. It was a one-sided debate, in favor of Sisi.

Pleased you liked the book Newc. I found it fascinating and eye opening. I still think when they get a grasp on things Egypt will ban it...I got a copy sent o me from friends in the US who saw it and thought I would be interested. You know what its like the US gets everything first, I remember taking the children to watch ET at the cinema, they wanted TEE Shirts, when we got back to UK all the children at their school wanted to know what ET was about. 10 weeks later it was released in the UK.