The Commitment

الوسوم

Al Sisi, assassination, civil society, commitment, deterioration, Egypt, energy, fighting, infrastructure, Libya, Morsi Muslim Brotherhood, Mubarak, New World Order, Religion, Sadat, Sinai, Suez Canal, the armed forces, the economy

For the past few decades Egyptian society has been systematically deteriorating. It started during the latter part of Sadat’s rule

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when he thought to battle the growing influence of communism by being more lenient and giving more leeway to fundamental religious groups, but mainly the Muslim Brotherhood. These took great advantage of this leniency and started enthusiastically applying their narrow views of social order as part of their plan to win society over to their way of thinking, with long term goals in mind to rule Egypt.
They had a setback when their enthusiasm outran their actual achievements, and through one act were set back dozens of years. Their assassination of President Sadat set them back,

but again like they always did historically, they went underground till things settled down, then appeared in public life again and with a high profile in the 2005 Egyptian Parliament. During those decades they managed to take advantage of every governmental failure by setting up their own parallel service. Where government schools failed, they set up their own schools. Where Al Azhar failed, they put in their own preachers who taught their brand of strict behaviour and their own very narrow concept of religion.
During those decades the veil swept in like wildfire and was the visible proof of their growing social influence, along with that came the deterioration in all aspects of services rendered by the government to the people, such as education, health and even morality. The economy was sustained by commercial projects set up by the MB. Large chains of grocery stores, food chains, clothing shops and many other consumer goods were set up by these fundamentalists, with an eye on the ultimate prize of owning Egypt and its people.
While all this was happening, the people were slowly but surely being brainwashed by the arid Wahabi creed embraced by the MB. Parallel to that was the deterioration of the economy and the growing dissatisfaction of the people. Also the growing international force of the idea of a New World Order that converged with these internal factors and which culminated in the Arab Spring, and Egypt’s Revolution of 25 January 2011.
From that date the efforts of the MB were intensified, till on June 30, 2012 Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was declared president of Egypt.

The country was greatly divided. Many Egyptians were aware of the MB bloody history and were shocked by their rule. Others, less informed, were optimistic, thinking that these “men of God” will turn Egypt into a Utopia on earth. It took Egyptians less than a year to become totally disillusioned and to rise against the MB with the support of the army.
Though there was great emphasis on religion, yet the main drive was behind the trappings of religion and not the ethical core. It became more important to conform in dress than it was to stick to cleanliness. Appearing to be pious was the goal, not actually practicing kindness or charity. Thus a hypocritical society came into being where the surface reflected strict codes of behaviour and dress which thinly veiled a swamp of apathy, and resulting in behaviour devoid of loyalty or commitment.
While all this was taking place in Egyptian society, the one entity that kept to itself, remained closed upon itself and kept its very strict rules of admittance, was the armed forces. There, anyone thought to have certain deviant beliefs from loyalty to the country was not accepted in the army. Though the system is not one of volunteers but of conscripts, yet even these were vetted very closely and whoever was found to be holding any strong beliefs that might overshadow loyalty to Egypt were quietly let go. This kept the armed forces as one cohesive entity, loyal to Egypt and nothing else.
New conscripts in the armed forces went through a very strict orientation when first recruited. They had love for God, country and their own unit and fellow troops drummed into them till they became a body of brothers in arms. The next stage was to see where every individual excelled, then given intensive training in that. So there were legions of highly trained individuals in every field imaginable, whether military or civilian. One of the Egyptian army’s strengths lies in the fact that it is self sufficient. It can feed itself, cloth itself, maintain its equipment and even produce most of it, educate and even heal itself.
With the near collapse of civil society, after the decades of neglect during Mubarak’s reign, and while the Muslim Brotherhood was destroying its moral fibre, the armed forces was the only entity which stayed strong and self sufficient. After President Al Sisi became President through winning a landslide election,

the only viable entity he could find that could build up Egypt again was the armed forces.
All outside forces that were planning for the Muslim Brotherhood to rule Egypt as they had no concept of loyalty to country and all they wanted was the Brotherhood’s glorification and an illusion of a Caliphate, all these forces were deeply disappointed when Al Sisi was voted in. The chant “down with the army” rose again on the streets after being last heard during the Brotherhood’s reign. But this chant was heard on the lips of those few provocateurs who cared more about their narrow personal gains than for Egypt as a whole.
With outside forces trying to force Egypt into submission to their plans, with provocateurs inciting an already beleaguered population and an economy on the brink of collapse, Al Sisi had his plate full. The one entity that could be relied upon was the only one that had remained intact: the armed forces.
Two fronts were opened to keep the army off balance, Sinai and the border with Libya, where systematic armed attacks against the army were launched. Then there was all the work that needed to be done internally to prepare the country for a revival of the economy, the total overhauling of the infrastructure, the modernising and new building of roads, bridges and transportation. New energy sources were needed, new fields of communication. Every field of endeavour needed overhauling and renovation.
Civil society was struggling after years of neglect, so the armed forces had to take up the slack.
The Engineering Corp took over. It dug the parallel lane of the Suez Canal,

it laid down hundreds of kilometres of new roads while fixing the old, it built bridges and rebuilt those that had collapsed.

New power plants were built for the generation of energy, both through old methods like nuclear power or the new sustainable energy of solar and wind. The armed forces opened up all its resources to the people.

When crooked individuals started hiking prices of foodstuffs, the armed forces opened up centres where foodstuffs were sold to the public at affordable prices. The army took over regulating the production and distribution of bread, so bread queues disappeared

and bread, the poor man’s main staple, became available again. The same happened with gas cylinders,

vegetables, fruit and finally meat, poultry and fish.
The next step in fighting Egypt’s attempts at getting back on its feet was the ongoing seditious attempts, again by those hired provocateurs, in rousing certain sectors of society against the government. When the public bus drivers went on strike asking for a hike in their salaries, the army provided busses to the public till the strike was settled.

These days it is the physicians. They rose en masse after certain provocateurs did their job well. A full strike was called for. This was touching dangerously on people’s lives and well being, so again the armed forces had to step in by opening up their hospitals to the public. These were listed on social media for easy access by the public.Army hospitals are known as the best in the country, having the latest in equipment and the most dedicated personnel, and at nominal prices.

The one virtue that the armed forces has over civil society is its ability to remain intact and to preserve its unwavering commitment to the defence and betterment of Egypt. It is committed to getting Egypt back on its feet, to helping Egyptians.
Our main hope of survival and advancement is our armed forces. They defend us against those plotting to harm us, they are defending the country with one hand and building it up with the other.
Long live the armed forces.
Long lives Egypt.
17 February 2016