Caged: Men accused of working for unlicensed NGOs and receiving

illegal foreign funds, await news during the opening of their trial

in Cairo, Feb. 26. The case, which involves 43 people - 19 of them

American - was adjourned until April.

 

 

Al-Ahram, Egypt

What does the CIA have to do with Democracy and NGO's?

 

Are the Americans now under arrest in Egypt and the non-governmental organizations that employ them, simply agents of the U.S. intelligence services? For Egypt's state-controlled Al-Ahram, columnist Makram Muhammad Ahmad writes that few Egyptians believe that America really wants to see genuine democracy for Egyptians or Arabs, since the result would inevitably be opposed to the interests of the United States.

 

By Makram Muhammad Ahmad

                                                         

 

Translated By Nicolas Dagher

 

February 13, 2012

 

Egypt - Al Ahram [The Pyramids] - Original Article (Arabic)

Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces: He and his associates appear to be whipping up anti-Western sentiment to be able to win the approval of the public, which is less than satisfied with the nation's democratoc transition.   INTERNET VIDEO: Egyptian Revolution Songs - Rappers Protest the 'Lies of the Military', 00:05:12, Feb. 24 :39:48

I don't think anyone is convinced by the defense offered by non-governmental organizations operating in Egypt. According to them, the huge amounts of American money they receive is used to compile reports, studies and research into domestic conditions in Egypt, and in any case, the aid benefits the Egyptian government.

 

There are important and essential differences between the responsibility of government in terms of national sovereignty and those of individuals and NGOs, which must abide by prevailing laws. Government is subject to oversight by the people through their elected representatives in so far as how it is funded and they way it spends money.

 

In addition, international institutions that fund the activities of community groups and NGOs are doing so outside the law to achieve objectives that do not comport with their outward appearance. Many times, the stated goals of these organizations are just a cover for other, hidden objectives that undermine the nation's interests, particularly if those interests collide with those of the United States. This is especially true when the work of these organizations is an extension of the work of organs of intelligence and information gathering, as is the case with the Democrat and Republican institutes. These two organizations get their funding directly from the U.S. intelligence budget, despite the impressive-sounding titles of their democracy projects!

 

[Editor's Note: The organizations the author refers to are Freedom House, the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and the International Center for Journalists. The 19 Americans now being held for trial in April are employees of these U.S.-based non-governmental organizations, which, according to them, have been assisting Egyptian groups with election reform, voter education and other programs designed to bolster civil society.]

 

There has been confirmation that the Democratic and Republican institutes just provide a cover for the intelligence work of the CIA abroad. Even if the goal of these groups, as stated by The Washington Post, is at times to help with democratic reform, most of the time they work against democracy, and always stand by the interests of the United States, which necessarily puts them in conflict with the hopes and aspirations of the people and their right to self-determination.     

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia: Egypt Suspends Trial of NGO Activists
Amal al-Oumma, Egypt: Egyptians Refuse to Accept What America Would Reject
Le Monde, France: Muslim Brotherhood is the Least of America's Problems
Al-Ahram, Egypt: Raids on U.S. NGOs Reveal Scheme to 'Partition' Egypt
Al-Ahram, Egypt: U.S. and Egypt on a 'Collision Course'
Al-Ahram, Egypt: People Chip in to Reject American Aid
Al-Ahram, Egypt: Egypt Courts Bad Relations with America
El Akhbar, Egypt: 'Maps' Cited in Arrest of Foreign NGO Workers
Thawra Al-Wada, Syria: 'New Mideast' Borders to Be Drawn in Arab Blood
Amal al-Oumma, Egypt: What We Egyptians Have Learned from Revolution
The Frontier Post, Pakistan: America's Secret War on Iran in Balochistan

O Globo, Brazil: Facebook and Twitter are Just a Means to a Greater End

La Jornada, Mexico: In Egypt, Washington's Global Image is Once Again at Stake

Al-Wahdawi, Yemen: In Egypt, the 'Mother of All Battles' is Still to Come

Al-Seyassah, Kuwait: U.S. Pressure on Rights and Democracy is at Root of the Problem

Tehran Times, Iran: Egyptians and All Arabs Must Beware of 'Global Ruling Class'

Le Quotidien d’Oran, Algeria: Mubarak, Friends Scheme to Short-Circuit Revolt

Salzburger Nachrichten, Austria: America Must Act or Cede Egypt to the Islamists

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany: America's' 'Shameful' Faustian Bargain Unravels

Guardian Unlimited, U.K.: Mubarak Regime 'Still Very Much in Power'

Hankyoreh, South Korea: Egypt: Will U.S. Pick the Right Side this Time?

Global Times, China: Egypt, Tunisia Raise Doubts About Western Democracy

Kayhan, Iran: Middle East Revolutions Herald America's Demise

Sydney Morning Herald: Revolution is in the Air, But U.S. Sticks to Same Old Script

The Telegraph, U.K.: America's Secret Backing for Egypt's Rebel Leaders

Debka File, Israel: Sources: Egypt Uprising Planned in Washington Under Bush

 

 

That is what the National Democratic Institute did in toppling elected governments in Haiti and Venezuela; and what the International Republican Institute did when it attempted to alter Brazil's electoral laws. That is to say nothing of the Republican Institute's infamous role in the 2009 uprising against the democratic government of Honduras.

 

I don't think any reasonable Egyptian can believe that Washington wants a just and well-run democracy for Egypt or the Arab world, in which public opinion plays a genuine role in strategic decision making. After all, such choices would include a determined push back against Israeli hegemony, the elimination of its occupation of Arab land and enabling the Palestinian people to acquire their legal rights.

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