Egypt: Abu Ismail's campaign against US aid
Issandr El Amrani
The above graphic is from the Facebook page of presidential hopeful Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, aka the world's cuddliest Salafi. It says "Buy your dignity for only LE72".
The calculation it makes is that Egypt's $1.3bn in US military aid amounts to about LE6bn, which divided by 84 million Egyptians makes just about LE72. What a bargain! Of course Sheikh Hazem — a Salafi from the Muslim Brotherhood (the MB-Salafi distinction becomes irrelevant away from syndicate and national politics) — is always full of brilliant ideas. His entry on Wikipedia says he "has presented 10 great national projects in all fields to overcome most of the Egyptian people problems." I'll have to do a fuller profile at some point.
Yet another sign that the US-Egypt NGO crisis is plumbing into new depths of facile populism. Of course, not only on the Egyptian side.
Reader Comments (7)
Well, hell, let all those five and ten year olds in the countryside all cough up their LE 72 to revive Masr's dignity even if it means giving up food for a month! Dude needs a basic lesson in public finance, or why borrowing/rentier economics is politically easier than a flat tax.
Snow White & the Seven Salafis : Cuddly, Cankerous, Litigious, Violent , Naggy ... add you own
The economic portion of the aid, about $300 million, is less than 2 centsUS per person per day. One can't even buy a stick of chewing gum for that. No doubt the military $1.3 billion portion is to be found in the pockets of the generals.
What do you prefer Issandr? That Egypt remains a client US state, reliant on handouts? And as has been mentioned - most of the money is frittered away in any case.
if you wana liberate egypt from being a charity state then you need to stop taking donations and stand on your feet and grow some wheat instead of tobacco. maybe dispose of a few super rich generals and their faillies. get rid of those who call themselves freinds of america...they really do betray the country in their deluded sense of national interest...their idea being modernism means stay with america..what fools.
There has to be some serious scrutiny of the generals corps.
And why the mention of populism in Egypt?
Why do liberal ideologues in Egypt attempt to frame the Egyptian political arena as if it's for an American viewing audience?
Shall we raise the issue of foreign funding and training?
Facile populism perhaps but he has a point doesn't he? Surely there is a real need for Egypt to break away from it's current client-state-status, a la how recently South America has been able to? As there is a real need for a rational debate about the need for such a disengagement from western dominance. Until such a disengagement happens expect only a continuation of the cycle of economic and political repression followed by social explosion.