Egyptian govt rejects McCain's 'clumsy' statements on Morsi

[DJKeefy]

Egyptian govt rejects McCain's 'clumsy' statements on Morsi's ouster.

An Egyptian presidential aide rejected statements by US Senator John McCain describing the popularly-backed military overthrow of Mohamed Morsi as a coup d'etat.

"John McCain is distorting facts. His clumsy statements are unacceptable in form and substance," presidential aide Ahmed El-Muslimani told Ahram Arabic website Monday evening.

McCain, who made the comments at a press conference in Cairo on Monday, is the first US official visiting Egypt to refer to the removal of Morsi as a military coup. Secretary of State John Kerry said last week that the Egyptian army had "restored democracy" and averted civil war by deposing the Islamist president.

A source from Egypt's foreign ministry told state news agency MENA that Egypt's interim foreign minister Nabil Fahmy was dismayed at McCain's statements and that the ministry is preparing an official response.

McCain expressed concerns during a news conference in Cairo earlier on Monday over the country's political process, saying the US "cannot support Egypt that is not moving to a democracy."

US Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham visited Egypt to take part in mediation efforts between Egypt's political rivals following Morsi's ouster.

McCain also urged that senior Brotherhood figures who have been detained since the 3 July ouster of Morsi be released.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/78492.aspx

[Bombay]

Is there a collective term for a "bunch of *******" or is it "pair of tossers" as I would use?
Pity they didn't use Sarah Palin as a navigator they would still be "on their way"

[Bullet Magnet]

'Murica... FreeDUMB...!!!

[carrie]

According to articles in the Harvard Law Review journal,"in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon the use of the nation's jails and prisons for political repression was renewed" Many of those rounded up were kept in solitary confinment allowed no access to lawyers, mail ot telephone.
The US of A should perhaps look in it's own backyard when discussing democracy and civil rights and free it's own political prisoners before lecturing others.

[LivinginLuxor]

I know I'm being pedantic about a very serious matter, but I'd love to know where the word "ouster" came from. I'd say he was "ousted" possibly be an "ouster" - or in a process known as "ousting". At least the BBC gets it right! I saw the press conference, and came to the conclusion that McCain is a little too old for the job.

[Hafiz]

Graham, McCain's fellow senator on the Egypt trip has a good turn of phrase:

“The people who are in charge were not elected, and the people who were elected are now in jail,” Graham told reporters. He also thought it was a coup.

Nothing so lame as heckling from the sides or bringing up previous mistakes. Both of them came to Egypt to try to improve the situation and, in the case of McCain bring experience of what war can do and a strong commitment to democracy in the region.

He is old, but old or not he continues to surprise by his frankness, maverick nature and immense power and influence. Tossers? I think not. McCain has given most of his adult life to public service in addition to his 6 years in a North Vietnamese POW camp where he suffered extreme torture. For 2 years he was in solitary confinement. Offered release by the Vietnamese, because his father was an admiral, he refused to be released out of sequence to his POW colleagues. Torture escalated following this refusal leading to permanent physical damage and making him look older than he is. One ghoulish anecdote: His hair went white after the first month or so of torture. Tellingly he was the first, or one of the first, to push for normal relations with Vietnam.

His trip to Egypt was calculated to produce frank statements which he could do because he does not represent the US government or the President. Think of it as good cop/bad cop. He doesn't do nuanced diplomatic speak whereas that's the only type speak in Egyptian politics. Maybe its good for Egypt to get some frank and clear advice, god knows the standard bull** leaves you scratching your head about its meaning.

He has similarly frank statements on the current situation in Syria and has visited the northern rebels in the past few months. He was also the first western politician to visit the rebels in Libya, in the field whilst they were fighting, and amongst the first to demand EU military intervention there. This gives him cred in talking about democracy in the region and a track record of personal bravery in his 'dotage'. He doesn't like dictatorships or coups.

Its all academic now because everyone: the UAE, EU, USA and representatives of the African Union have all given up. The only one left standing is al Ahzar and they burnt their cred several weeks ago. All that's left is the crackdown.

The reference to Harvard is a red herring. No-one from the democratically elected US government was imprisoned. There was no military takeover of the US. All detentions within the US were valid under law and subject to judicial review. If, however, the point is: were lots of people rounded up then the answer is yes. Isn't that exactly what you would expect. There had been an attack from a hidden enemy, to not round up would have been reckless. As far as solitary confinement is concerned: what fool would allow co-conspirators to develop their stories together? What do you think would follow from telephone calls?

The idea that a bad US backyard should prevent all Americans from judgements about others is absurd. No country is perfect but that shouldn't mean that no-one can make any judgements about another country (and anyway its not a judgement about Egypt its the application of a word with clean meaning). If this rule (no right to criticism until you are perfect) was applied no-one could pass judgement on any other. Its a standard type pf lazy smear which says that you have something wrong with you, therefore you should be silent.