Live: Al Jazeera coverage of Egypt’s growing revolution

[tapitsbo]

So Egypt and the UAE are asking the UK to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Alice I presume that you approve. What sorts of discussions would you like to see Western nations about groups like the MB and how they represent a radical divergence from Islam in general and, if I have understood you correctly a form of crypto-colonialism?

[AlicetheKurious]

So Egypt and the UAE are asking the UK to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Alice I presume that you approve. What sorts of discussions would you like to see Western nations about groups like the MB and how they represent a radical divergence from Islam in general and, if I have understood you correctly a form of crypto-colonialism?

Egypt and the UAE are trying to call the UK's, and the US', bluff. The "Islamist terrorist" groups, all of them, are just subsidiaries of the mother organization, the MB, which acts as conduit for communications (including orders), recruitment and transport and training of recruits, money, arms, etc. But the MB, headquartered in London but with branches all over North America and Europe and wherever US/Western/Mossad agents are active, and with its financial headquarters in Geneva, is legally treated as a separate, innocuous organization, so that the intelligence agencies of Western countries can safely use it to run and support groups such as "ISIS", "Al-Qaeda", "Nusra Front" and all the others, while keeping direct contact to the absolute minimum. In this way, the Western handlers of these terrorist organizations can minimize their exposure to criminal charges now and in the future.

By demanding that the UK and the US, who run these terrorist groups, acknowledge the reality that the MB is not only a terrorist organization, but the 'mother of all "Islamist" terrorist organizations', Egypt and the UAE are trying to force the UK and the US' hand and ideally to deprive them of the veneer of legality that the current legal status of the MB gives them. Of course, we know and they know that they will never do that willingly, unless they can quickly construct an alternative to the MB, and that's very unlikely. So, with the limited means at their disposal, Egypt and the UAE are trying to make it into a public opinion issue, and a legal issue, thus opening the can of worms and making the handlers and co-conspirators liable to criminal charges or at least public exposure and disgrace.

In answer to your question about how the MB represents a radical divergence from Islam, I could point to the fact that throughout its 80+ year history, ever since it was founded by the British colonial occupation in Egypt, its pseudo-Muslim (or anti-Muslim) cult has always been rejected by the overwhelming majority of Muslims, and it has had to rely for its recruitment on access to children, who are brainwashed and raised in the cult. That's why so much of the MB's money in, say, Egypt, was spent on setting up its own schools and infiltrating and taking over the public schools system, something that was allowed by both Sadat and Mubarak for a number of reasons. Still, the legitimate Islamic scholars have always opposed it, which led the Muslim Brotherhood to invest a lot of effort and enormous amounts of money to take over venerable Islamic institutions such as Al-Azhar, but with very limited success.

In the past few decades, the MB had also managed to win a lot of sympathy among ordinary Muslims who didn't necessarily either understand or approve of their ideology, but who perceived them to be victims of repression and government abuse, a perception that was heavily promoted by both the MB's own well-oiled PR machine, and by its sponsors through theirs. But this misconception was very quickly dispelled once the MB took power in Egypt. In their euphoria at finally achieving their goal, and convinced that US and other Western backing made them invincible, they dropped the mask. And that, as they say, was that. Never underestimate the power of the people once they finally have their eyes opened.

Hence, Egypt and the UAE are trying to dispel the fog so that citizens of Western countries can see the ugly reality for themselves.

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."

[jingofever]

Judging by his stated goals, Kissinger's entire career has been a series of spectacular and incredibly costly failures for the US, economically, politically and in terms of American lives.

Proof by assertion?

It would be very interesting to shed some light on who was behind the Watergate scandal "breaking" at that particular, crucial time, and also if Nixon was given drugs to "help him cope" with the resulting stress. By all accounts, Nixon didn't like Kissinger and certainly didn't trust him, yet Nixon's own words seem to indicate that Kissinger had some kind of power over him, and that he felt trapped. In any case, Kissinger's telephone transcripts show only that he deliberately chose, time after time, to keep Nixon uninformed about vital matters of national security, citing the president's supposed incapacity as the reason. We only really have Kissinger's word for what was really going on with Nixon.

It was not just Kissinger making the decisions. The decision to go to DEFCON III was made by Kissinger, Schlesinger, Admiral Thomas Moorer, Alexander Haig, and William Colby. Kissinger was pushing it hardest but they all agreed on it. That group, minus Colby, was also responsible for the airlift.

Certainly the stakes for Israel couldn't have been higher, and it was very, very fortuitous that Kissinger was at the helm at just the right time to make sure Israel got everything it wanted, and to remove any obstacles in its way, regardless of the cost to the US and the world.

Israel did not get everything it wanted. Maybe in the Yom Kippur War, when our prestige was at risk, though Kissinger made Israel allow relief supplies to get through to the Third Army. But certainly not in the peace negotiations. For example, Israel only wanted to go as far as a partial withdrawal from the oil fields but Kissinger and Ford made them withdraw completely. Israel probably would have preferred that they not have to give up any of the Sinai and for America to tell Egypt to suck it. Of course by the time of the 1979 treaty Kissinger was gone so maybe that is what he would have done.

Did Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger Agree to Starve Americans for Israel in the Event of an Oil Crisis?
by Adam Bilzerian...

For some reason you pasted a professional poker player's reiteration of the points you made about the Memorandum of Agreement and helpfully bolded the occurrences of 'secret'. But about that starving Americans in the event of an oil crisis, all that does is extend IEA protections to Israel even though it is not a member. The IEA requires that during supply disruptions some members (those who are using more than a certain amount) sell oil to other members (those using less than a certain amount) and that all members cut their consumption. Committing to sell oil to Israel creates half of a free rider problem but I do not think that counts as treason.

That is hilarious. No, the United States has never made anything close to such a treasonous agreement with any other state. As for the military and economic "aid", I'm not sure what the US got, other than a few jobs for the "experts" it sent to live luxuriously in Egypt, all at the expense of the American taxpayer, and a few jobs back home for workers in the defense industry. But for Israel, the benefits have been enormous. US "aid" was the lubricant that permitted enemy agents to deeply penetrate Egypt and literally destroy it from within. Every single sector that received hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in "aid", and was "reorganized" by America's experts was devastated: public education, public health, agriculture and infrastructure, among others. Just to cite one example, in the 1970s, Egyptian cotton, or "white gold" was Egypt's second-largest source of revenue. Thanks in large part to America's economic restructuring of Egyptian agriculture, Egypt is no longer a producer of Egyptian cotton. But Israel is. In fact, a huge range of indigenous seeds traditionally grown in Egypt have almost disappeared, while Israel now has an extensive catalogue and store of those same seeds.

The agreement was similar in that it pledged aid without one word about what we were getting in return, which is how you characterized the Israel Memorandum of Agreement. Just knowing that cotton used to be the second-largest source of revenue tells me nothing. I don't know if the economy was diversified since then, if it shifted away from agriculture, if the cotton industry was inefficient and could not compete globally, or any number of other reasons why cotton would no longer be king. This article suggests that Egypt still produces cotton. Do you have a source that explains how US aid killed cotton, maybe something from a craps player?

In contrast to the era when Egypt was allied to the Soviet Union, when the Soviets helped to establish and modernize major industries such as iron and steel factories, cement, textiles, automobiles, electric appliances, etc., and assisted the Egyptians in building massive infrastructure projects such as the Aswan Dam, the era of American "aid" witnessed the neo-liberalization and selling off of Egypt's industrial assets to foreign buyers and to the new class of overnight billionaires (many of them closely linked to the US) that sprouted in Sadat's "Open Door Policy" and flourished in the Mubarak era. Within a record time, Egypt's industrial and agricultural sectors were virtually destroyed, and Egypt became dependent on imports for everything, including 70% of its food. Even so, by 2013, China was by far Egypt's largest single supplier of imports, cornering 12% of the market, followed by the US, which supplied 7.8%, with Germany and Italy combined supplying 10.7%

There is nothing unique about that, we do it to everybody. Everything I have read boasts about building Cairo's sewer and a telecommunications systems. At least tell me that you can flush a toilet in Cairo and place an international call. I read a paper that blames Egypt's need to import grain on rising meat consumption, which required that domestic grain be grown for livestock instead of people, and so loans were needed for the imported grain and then the IMF and USAID made Egypt grow even less grain for domestic consumption and switch to exportable agriculture (such as cotton) so they could pay back their loans. The point is, we didn't conspire to change Egyptian eating habits.

Moreover, unlike the aid provided by the US to Israel, which is unconditional, every penny spent by the US is parceled out a bit at a time and subject to stringent conditions. Economic aid to Egypt has been provided only on an approved project-by-project basis, with each project being carefully supervised to ensure it complied with the US' conditions. Israel's much larger economic aid (not counting the multi-billion dollar "loan guarantees" that are invariably paid off by the US and other under-the-table siphoning of US taxpayers' money to Israel) is supplied by the US as a lump sum at the beginning of the fiscal year, with no oversight or conditions on how the money is spent. In other words, given the fact that the US is the world's biggest debtor nation, the US borrows money that it gives to Israel, and Israel not only gets the money, but also the interest that accrues on it until it is spent.

You tend to put conditions on money and watch it closely when you think there is a good chance that corrupt officials will steal, misuse, or waste it. Egypt also receives loan guarantees and has an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for military purchases that collects interest. I don't know why you think we invariably pay off Israel's loans. We are only on the hook if Israel defaults, which they have never done. Israel has not taken advantage of our loan guarantees since 2005 when the State Department started significantly lowering the amount available based on how many settlements Israel builds.

[AlicetheKurious]

Proof by assertion?

As I said before, I will not wear myself out trying to educate you, but suffice it to mention the Vietnam horror, which Kissinger deliberately and unnecessarily prolonged for five long years, during which the bulk of the 58,000 American troops were killed. You can check out the Vanity Fair article I linked to before, to learn more about it. There are many other examples of what this monster cost America, let alone the world, but you'll have to learn about that on your own.

It was not just Kissinger making the decisions. The decision to go to DEFCON III was made by Kissinger, Schlesinger, Admiral Thomas Moorer, Alexander Haig, and William Colby. Kissinger was pushing it hardest but they all agreed on it. That group, minus Colby, was also responsible for the airlift.

I refer you once again to the Vanity Fair article I linked to, specifically the excerpt I actually posted, which you apparently didn't bother to read.

Israel did not get everything it wanted. Maybe in the Yom Kippur War, when our prestige was at risk, though Kissinger made Israel allow relief supplies to get through to the Third Army. But certainly not in the peace negotiations. For example, Israel only wanted to go as far as a partial withdrawal from the oil fields but Kissinger and Ford made them withdraw completely. Israel probably would have preferred that they not have to give up any of the Sinai and for America to tell Egypt to suck it. Of course by the time of the 1979 treaty Kissinger was gone so maybe that is what he would have done.

Well, it helped that Kissinger had the US pay Israel for the oil it would have stolen from Egypt had it held on to the Sinai. Even so, the Sinai was deliberately kept empty and undeveloped and essentially undefended, something that is only being corrected now that Egypt has once more become a sovereign state. During the Sadat and Mubarak eras, every single initiative to settle it and develop its rich resources was shelved by order of the president, due to enormous American pressure. In other words, Sinai was being kept in the freezer. Meanwhile, Israel was busy attacking and invading Lebanon from 1978 on, and eventually occupying south Lebanon, which it did from 1982 until 2000. The "separate peace" with Israel tied Egypt's hands, and dismantled the Arab front that had prevented Israel from doing that before. If it hadn't been for the rather amazing Lebanese Resistance, we'd be wailing about Jewish settlements in Lebanon now. Or, I would. I doubt it would disturb you at all.

For some reason you pasted a professional poker player's reiteration of the points you made about the Memorandum of Agreement and helpfully bolded the occurrences of 'secret'.

Yes, to point out the fact that it was indeed a secret agreement, signed without the knowledge or approval of the American people.

But about that starving Americans in the event of an oil crisis, all that does is extend IEA protections to Israel even though it is not a member. The IEA requires that during supply disruptions some members (those who are using more than a certain amount) sell oil to other members (those using less than a certain amount) and that all members cut their consumption. Committing to sell oil to Israel creates half of a free rider problem but I do not think that counts as treason.

First, as you say, Israel is not a member of the IEA. Second, the IEA agreement is reciprocal. Israel does not commit itself to reciprocate in any way. Third, the secret Memo of Understanding signed by Kissinger explicitly says that even if the US itself is suffering from shortages, it still must meet Israel's oil needs.

The agreement was similar in that it pledged aid without one word about what we were getting in return, which is how you characterized the Israel Memorandum of Agreement. Just knowing that cotton used to be the second-largest source of revenue tells me nothing. I don't know if the economy was diversified since then, if it shifted away from agriculture, if the cotton industry was inefficient and could not compete globally, or any number of other reasons why cotton would no longer be king. This article suggests that Egypt still produces cotton. Do you have a source that explains how US aid killed cotton, maybe something from a craps player?

The "aid" provided by the US was labeled a "peace dividend", which would create prosperity for Egypt and thus, supposedly, demonstrate how much better off Egypt has become, after signing a "peace" treaty with Israel. In reality, the US aid was used to penetrate and sabotage the Egyptian economy, destroying agriculture and manufacturing, and crippling Egypt by making it dependent on imports. How this was done, in detail, is something you should really try to learn about. You don't have to read about the Egyptian case specifically; the US uses a standard operating procedure to destroy economies. Any case study of US aid recipients from Latin America, Africa, or Asia should be enlightening, though few countries with such a strong economic base were so deliberately and systematically targeted for destruction.

There is nothing unique about that, we do it to everybody. Everything I have read boasts about building Cairo's sewer and a telecommunications systems. At least tell me that you can flush a toilet in Cairo and place an international call. I read a paper that blames Egypt's need to import grain on rising meat consumption, which required that domestic grain be grown for livestock instead of people, and so loans were needed for the imported grain and then the IMF and USAID made Egypt grow even less grain for domestic consumption and switch to exportable agriculture (such as cotton) so they could pay back their loans. The point is, we didn't conspire to change Egyptian eating habits.

It's interesting you should mention the sewer systems. It was actually Alexandria's sewer systems that received the particular attentions of USAID. Cairo gets very little rain, but Alexandria gets quite a bit. The past 10 days or so, the big news in Egypt has been the disastrous flooding of Alexandria in late October and earlier this month after particularly heavy rains, which caused massive damage to property and several deaths. Back in 2013, John Perkins, the economic hit-man, did an interview with RT, in which he explained how the US claimed to be totally renewing Alexandria's drains, but the money went straight into the pockets of American firms, who did a bit of work only in the richest neighborhoods, leaving the rest untouched. Unfortunately, the interview was done with RT's Arabic channel, so the English has been dubbed over. It's been circulated all over social media:

I don't know why you think we invariably pay off Israel's loans. We are only on the hook if Israel defaults, which they have never done. Israel has not taken advantage of our loan guarantees since 2005 when the State Department started significantly lowering the amount available based on how many settlements Israel builds.

This is from an old article, from 1997, so the figures are no doubt much, much bigger now, but it gives an idea of how US aid to Israel actually works:

THE STRATEGIC FUNCTIONS OF U.S. AID TO ISRAEL

By Stephen Zunes

Dr. Zunes is an assistant professor in the Department of Politics at the University of San Francisco.

Since 1992, the U.S. has offered Israel an additional $2 billion annually in loan guarantees. Congressional researchers have disclosed that between 1974 and 1989, $16.4 billion in U.S. military loans were converted to grants and that this was the understanding from the beginning. Indeed, all past U.S. loans to Israel have eventually been forgiven by Congress, which has undoubtedly helped Israel's often-touted claim that they have never defaulted on a U.S. government loan. U.S. policy since 1984 has been that economic assistance to Israel must equal or exceed Israel's annual debt repayment to the United States. Unlike other countries, which receive aid in quarterly installments, aid to Israel since 1982 has been given in a lump sum at the beginning of the fiscal year, leaving the U.S. government to borrow from future revenues. Israel even lends some of this money back through U.S. treasury bills and collects the additional interest.

In addition, there is the more than $1.5 billion in private U.S. funds that go to Israel annually in the form of $1 billion in private tax-deductible donations and $500 million in Israeli bonds. The ability of Americans to make what amounts to tax-deductible contributions to a foreign government, made possible through a number of Jewish charities, does not exist with any other country. Nor do these figures include short- and long-term commercial loans from U.S. banks, which have been as high as $1 billion annually in recent years.

Total U.S. aid to Israel is approximately one-third of the American foreign-aid budget, even though Israel comprises just .001 percent of the world's population and already has one of the world's higher per capita incomes. Indeed, Israel's GNP is higher than the combined GNP of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. With a per capita income of about $14,000, Israel ranks as the sixteenth wealthiest country in the world; Israelis enjoy a higher per capita income than oil-rich Saudi Arabia and are only slightly less well-off than most Western European countries.

AID does not term economic aid to Israel as development assistance, but instead uses the term "economic support funding." Given Israel's relative prosperity, U.S. aid to Israel is becoming increasingly controversial. In 1994, Yossi Beilen, deputy foreign minister of Israel and a Knesset member, told the Women's International Zionist organization, "If our economic situation is better than in many of your countries, how can we go on asking for your charity?" Link

US AID TO ISRAEL

At the end of a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding in 2018, the United States will have given Israel $30 billion in unconditional military aid. This figure will actually be much higher, however, because of other sources of US financing, such as loan guarantees, grants from other US agencies, and free or reduced-cost military supplies and weaponry.

US aid to Israel - 2015 Fact Sheet

Total American aid to Israel since 1949 exceeds $121 billion (in non-inflation-adjusted dollars).

In 2007, President George Bush and Israel entered into a 10-year Memoradum of Understanding that would give Israel $30 billion in Foreign Military Assistance.

At the completion of this 10-year-plan in 2018, the U.S. will have given Israel $30 billion in unconditional military aid. The United States awards this grant in one lump sum, unlike other foreign recipients, which receive their payments in installments. Israel uses the interest it earns on this amount to pay down its debt to the United States, valued at $455 million in January 2013. In his March 2013 visit to Israel, President Barack Obama pledged to continue multi-year aid packages to Israel through 2028.

Under the terms of the agreement, Israel will be able to spend 26 percent of these U.S. funds on Israeli-manufactured military equipment. (This is known as Off-Shore Procurement.) This agreement, which is unique only to Israel, has allowed Israel to grow to be the world’s 7th largest exporter of military weaponry and equipment.

Israel also receives aid in other ways such as loan guarantees, refugee resettlement assistance, and reduced cost or free military equipment.

In addition to $3.1 billion per year in Foreign Military Assistance issued through the US Department of State, Israel also receives funds through the Defense Department appropriations bills for missle defense programs, like Iron Dome.



Here is a breakdown of some of US Aid to Israel:

Israel is the largest recipient of US Foreign Military Financing.

For FY2015, President Barack Obama’s funding request for Israel would account for more than 55% of FMF worldwide.

Annual FMF grants account for up to 25% of Israel’s defense budget.

Israel is allowed to use FMF to purchase weapons produced in Israel. No other country receives this benefit.

In 2010, the US and Israel agreed to allow Israel tol purchase 19 F-35s at a cost of $2.75 billion. Israel will pay for this entirely using FMF grants supplied by the United States.

Under negotiated agreements, Israel may purchase an additional squadron of F-35s, up to 75 aircraft, costing a total of $15.2 billion.

As part of the deal, the U.S. has pledged to spend $4 billion purchasing equipment from Israel’s defense industries.

In the summer of 2012, the Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin finalized a $450 million agreement to modify the baseline F-35 model to accommodate electronic warfare and munitions systems for Israel’s future F-35 squadrons.

For FY2015, the Administration is requesting $3.1 billion in FMF to Israel and $10 million in Migration and Refugee Assistance. The Missile Defense Agency’s FY2015 request for joint U.S.- Israeli programs is $96.8 million. The Administration also is requesting $175.9 million for Iron Dome.[/list]

The US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act

Passed in March 2014, the Strategic Partnership Act will (among other things):

[list=]Authorize annual funding for a U.S.-based Joint Energy Research Center

Authorize $3 million to be spent on research pilot programs between Israel and the Department of Homeland Security

Require the Administration to submit biennial reports on maintaining Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge. Current law requires the Administration to report on a quadrennial basis.

Israel, not an honest broker

Israel has not always been an honest foreign aid recipient, breaking both U.S. and international laws by the misuse of American weaponry, espionage and selling sensitive military equipment and knowledge to countries unfriendly to the United States.

Weapons use violations

Cluster munitions – In 1982 the Reagan administration found that Israel ‘may’ have violated its 1952 Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement with the U.S. by using U.S.-supplied cluster bombs against civilians in Lebanon.

Israel also may have violated several American laws by its use of American-made Apache helicopters, F-16 fighter jets and other U.S.-produced ammunition on the civilian population of Gaza during Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 and January 2009, according to a report by the National Lawyers Guild.

Questionable deals

In 2000, Israel sought to sell the Airborne Early Warning System to China, which could threaten “the forces of democratic Taiwan and the United States in the region surrounding the Taiwan Straights.”

In 2005, because of Israeli plans to sell American information or technology to China, the US suspended Israel from the development of the Joint Strike Fighter and imposed other restrictions on them.

In 2006, Israel froze a $100-million contract with Venezuela to upgrade its U.S. manufactured F-16 fighter jets due to U.S. pressure.

In 2009, an Israeli defense company partnering with Swedish manufacturer Saab backed out of a bidding competition to sell Swedish-designed fighter jets to India because U.S. officials worried U.S. technology would be integrated into the jets.

In December 2013, the head of Israel’s Defense Export Control Agency resigned after a joint US-Israeli investigation concluded that an Israeli miniature cooling system that can be used for missiles, and that had been licensed for sale to a French company, had been retransferred to China.

Espionage-related cases

Jonathan Pollard was indicted in November 1985 for selling classified documents to Israel. Four Israelis also were charged. Pollard was convicted and is serving a life sentence.

Lawrence Franklin, indicted June 13, 2005, for the unauthorized disclosure of classified information relating to al Qaeda, U.S. policy toward Iran and the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia to a foreign diplomat.

Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, of the AIPAC lobby, were indicted on Aug. 4, 2005, for their part in the Franklin’s espionage. On May 1, 2009, U.S. prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the case because of the likelihood that classified information would be revealed at trial that would damage national security.

Ben-Ami Kadish, arrested on April 22, 2008, on suspicion of giving classified information on nuclear weapons to Israel. Kadish pleaded guilty on May 29, 2009, to one count of conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of Israel and was fined $50,000.

Stewart Nozette, indicted on Oct. 15, 2009, for allegedly attempting to sell classified information about U.S. satellites, early-warning systems and other systems to the Mossad (Israel’s foreign intelligence and spy agency). Nozette pleaded guilty to a “seemingly unrelated two-count charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion.”

Sources: CSR Report for Congress, "U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel," April 11, 2014; “U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel” April 11, 2013; “Israel: Background and U.S. Relations,” Feb. 14, 2011; and “Onslaught: Israel’s Attack on Gaza & the Rule of Law,” National Lawyers Guild
AMP 03/15/14 Link

[jingofever]

As I said before, I will not wear myself out trying to educate you, but suffice it to mention the Vietnam horror, which Kissinger deliberately and unnecessarily prolonged for five long years, during which the bulk of the 58,000 American troops were killed. You can check out the Vanity Fair article I linked to before, to learn more about it. There are many other examples of what this monster cost America, let alone the world, but you'll have to learn about that on your own.

It seems like you are talking about the sabotage of the peace talks but the Vanity Fair article does not mention that. Anyway, Kissinger was only one player in that, not the main villain. Vietnam cannot be placed squarely on Kissinger. He was one of many villains.

I refer you once again to the Vanity Fair article I linked to, specifically the excerpt I actually posted, which you apparently didn't bother to read.

I skimmed the passages you bolded but did not see anything new. What I get from that article is that Nixon was in no shape to be managing a crisis and everybody knew it. The article I was referencing is here: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/ ... nate=false

If it hadn't been for the rather amazing Lebanese Resistance, we'd be wailing about Jewish settlements in Lebanon now. Or, I would. I doubt it would disturb you at all.

I am not surprised that the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt did not prevent Israel from invading Lebanon. My niece and nephew are part Lebanese so I might feel a tinge of solidarity. But probably not. I'd probably knock down their home and build my own over the ruins.

Second, the IEA agreement is reciprocal. Israel does not commit itself to reciprocate in any way. Third, the secret Memo of Understanding signed by Kissinger explicitly says that even if the US itself is suffering from shortages, it still must meet Israel's oil needs.

That is why I called it half a free rider problem. They agree to about half of the IEA obligations, to cut consumption and pay for the oil at market price. It was probably kept secret because we didn't want OPEC to know that we were trying to blunt the oil weapon, which might incline them to use it. Israel's use of oil is a drop in the bucket compared to ours (about 1% in 1980). While it would hurt it was a price that our government was willing to pay for peace, for whatever reasons we wanted peace. Ultimately it came down to Ford, and then Carter, and so on until Obama ended it.

It's interesting you should mention the sewer systems. It was actually Alexandria's sewer systems that received the particular attentions of USAID. Cairo gets very little rain, but Alexandria gets quite a bit. The past 10 days or so, the big news in Egypt has been the disastrous flooding of Alexandria in late October and earlier this month after particularly heavy rains, which caused massive damage to property and several deaths. Back in 2013, John Perkins, the economic hit-man, did an interview with RT, in which he explained how the US claimed to be totally renewing Alexandria's drains, but the money went straight into the pockets of American firms, who did a bit of work only in the richest neighborhoods, leaving the rest untouched. Unfortunately, the interview was done with RT's Arabic channel, so the English has been dubbed over. It's been circulated all over social media:

I don't really trust a man who claims the ability to shapeshift and soul travel through time and I certainly don't trust anything that is being circulated all over social media. He might be right but I won't bother. I am quite sure that USAID also did extensive work on the Cairo sewer system. 770 million dollars spent between 1984 and 2006. The problem was not rain but a sewer system that was designed for a fraction of the current population.

[AlicetheKurious]

It seems like you are talking about the sabotage of the peace talks but the Vanity Fair article does not mention that. Anyway, Kissinger was only one player in that, not the main villain. Vietnam cannot be placed squarely on Kissinger. He was one of many villains.

In this specific instance, you're right. I sometimes confuse the Vanity Fair article with the series of Harper's articles by Christopher Hitchens, "The Case Against Henry Kissinger." As these two articles show, even a cursory knowledge of how Kissinger operated over his long and blood-soaked career should clarify that he was never just "one of many" anything, but an initiator and orchestrator of criminal conspiracies, almost certainly on behalf of shadowy others, who ensured that he had all the tools necessary to manipulate and blackmail elected officials, but rarely, if ever allowed themselves to become known.

I skimmed the passages you bolded but did not see anything new. What I get from that article is that Nixon was in no shape to be managing a crisis and everybody knew it. The article I was referencing is here: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/ ... nate=false

Interestingly, there are three separate explanations for Kissinger's actions in conspiring with his lackey Alexander Haig to threaten the world with nuclear war. Only two facts are undisputed: that the US put its global forces on nuclear alert, and that,

As Kissinger would remind Haig the next day, according to the transcript of a phone call, "You and I were the only ones for it. These other guys were wailing all over the place this morning."

The first narrative claims that Israel threatened to use its own nuclear weapons, and that Kissinger forestalled it by issuing the alert. The second claims that American sensors had detected traces of nuclear radiation emanating from the Soviets' submarines being sent to the Middle East. Other than the claims of certain journalists, there is really no factual basis for determining what, if any, basis exists for either narrative.

Thus, the simplest and most obvious reason is the most likely: Kissinger threatened the Soviets with nuclear war to prevent them from enforcing the UN ceasefire resolution which Israel was violating after he had given Israel the green light to do so, and to prevent Israel from being forced to withdraw from the land it had stolen. But the claim that either the Soviets or Israel were threatening to use nuclear weapons, no matter how implausible, may very well have been a bluff used by Kissinger to browbeat the national security officials to cave in reluctantly to his insane plan during the hours of 11:00 pm to 2:00 am., something which they apparently regretted in the clear light of day. But it was too late.

I am not surprised that the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt did not prevent Israel from invading Lebanon. My niece and nephew are part Lebanese so I might feel a tinge of solidarity. But probably not. I'd probably knock down their home and build my own over the ruins.

Maybe not. Maybe you'd just shrug, and say that it's nothing to get excited about.

While it would hurt it was a price that our government was willing to pay for peace, for whatever reasons we wanted peace. Ultimately it came down to Ford, and then Carter, and so on until Obama ended it.

If it was originally signed in secret, and subsequently renewed in secret, then on what basis do you keep saying that Obama ended it?

As for "peace", the only way to build real peace is on the basis of justice and international law, not on the basis of some conspiracy between crooks to divide and ultimately bring an entire region to its knees before a criminal, rapacious entity.

The problem was not rain but a sewer system that was designed for a fraction of the current population.

That's true, but the sewer system was supposedly completely overhauled and expanded using funds from USAID for which Egypt is supposed to be grateful. Instead, it flowed back to the pockets of certain lucky American corporations, just as in any cheap scam. Because that's what US "aid" is: a racket to defraud the American taxpayers and to enrich certain well-connected cronies. In the case of Egypt, USAID was also one of many vehicles for penetrating the most powerful Arab country and covertly destroying it from within, in service of Israel.

The unusually heavy rains led to a catastrophe, and exposed the scale of the fraud. Yesterday, the president had to order the drainage system for Alexandria alone to be completely repaired and rebuilt where necessary, at a cost of nearly $250 million. Ultimately, to compensate for the US' generous "help", and to rebuild all that's been sabotaged over the past four decades, Egypt will have to spend far more than it ever received in "aid".

[jingofever]

If it was originally signed in secret, and subsequently renewed in secret, then on what basis do you keep saying that Obama ended it?

http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/ind ... 14398611f4

Edit: it was renewed the following month.

[stefano]

A homemade explosive device brought down a Russian passenger plane over Egypt last month, the head of Russia's FSB security service said Tuesday, telling Russian President Vladimir Putin it's now clear the bombing that killed 224 people was a "terrorist" act.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for downing the Russian plane in written statements, as well as video and audio messages posted on the Internet following the crash.

"According to our experts, a homemade explosive device equivalent to 1 kilogram of TNT went off onboard, which caused the plane to break up in the air, which explains why the fuselage was scattered over such a large territory. I can certainly say that this was a terrorist act," FSB head Alexander Bortnikov said.

He said tests showed the explosives had been produced outside of Russia, but gave no further details.

CAIRO, Nov. 17 (Aswat Masriya) - A homemade explosive device equivalent to 1.5 kilograms of TNT was responsible for the midair breakup of the Russian charter flight that crashed in the Sinai peninsula on Oct. 31, Alexander Bortnikov the head of Russia's federal security service told Russian news agency Interfax on Tuesday.

"We can definitely say this was a terrorist act," state-affilated Russian news agency Sputnik cited Bortnikov as saying.

“According to our specialists’ assessment, a homemade explosive device with an equivalent of 1 kilogram of TNT on board the aircraft exploded, which led to the plane 'breaking up' in midair, which would explain the scattering of the plane’s fuselage across a wide area,” Bortnikov said during a meeting.

[AlicetheKurious]

Stefano: my husband often tells me I have the makings of a good analyst, but I'd make a terrible politician. That's because I'm constitutionally incapable of lying. At most, I can remain silent, but lying makes me fall apart. And the most important qualification for life in politics is the ability to lie without flinching. Politicians never ask, "Is it true?" They ask, "Is it useful?"

When Putin pops out with his announcement even before the official team investigating the crash has prepared its report, then instead of assuming that he must be telling the truth, the correct question should be how does his statement serve his interest.

France and Britain and the US have been using the Paris attacks to justify intensifying their military presence in the Arab region. So Russia is doing the same, and even turning the tables on them, with the plane crash. Regardless of what is true.

[IanEye]

France and Britain and the US have been using the Paris attacks to justify intensifying their military presence in the Arab region. So Russia is doing the same, and even turning the tables on them, with the plane crash. Regardless of what is true.

[stefano]

Egypt said on Monday [14 December] it had found no evidence so far of terrorism or other illegal action linked to the crash of a Russian passenger plane in Sinai that killed all 224 people on board on October 31.

Russia and Western governments have said the Airbus A321 operated by Metrojet was likely brought down by a bomb, and the Islamic State militant group said it had smuggled an explosive on board.

But Egypt's civil aviation ministry said it had completed a preliminary report on the crash and said it had so far found no evidence of a criminal act.

"The technical investigative committee has so far not found anything indicating any illegal intervention or terrorist action," the ministry said in a statement.

The crash hit Egypt's tourism industry, a cornerstone of the economy. The plane took off from Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort popular with Russian and British holiday makers.

It raised serious questions about airport security with Russia and Britain both suspending flights into Sharm el-Sheikh.

Egypt is facing a two-year Islamist insurgency in the Sinai that killed hundreds of soldiers and police. Islamic State said the bombing was in response to Russian air strikes in Syria.

Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry said on Monday that a preliminary investigative report on the October crash of a Russian flight in Sinai indicates that the plane was not downed by a bomb, a statement that Russia was quick to dismiss.

"The technical investigative committee has so far not found any evidence indicating criminal or terrorist activity in the downing of the plane," head of the investigative committee, Ayman El-Muqqadam, said in a statement sent to Ahram Online by Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry.

El-Muqqadam added that the investigative committee is "continuing its work," saying that the preliminary conclusion will be verified with more detailed information in later phases of the probe.

The Egyptian statement added that a copy of the report has been sent to international experts officially taking part in the probe, including experts from Russia, Ireland and France, as well as the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Hours following the release of the aviation ministry statement, Moscow rejected the findings, citing the conclusion reached by Russian experts investigating the crash.

“I can only remind you that the report of our experts from the corresponding special services concluded that this was a terrorist act,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Sputnik.

Last month, Russia asserted for the first time that a homemade bomb containing up to 1 kilogram of TNT blew apart the Airbus A321, which took off from the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh en route to Russia's St Petersburg.

Russian security chief Alexander Bortnikov said "we can say unequivocally that this was a terrorist attack," prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to vow to hunt down and punish the perpetrators "in any part of the world."

Since the 31 October crash, which claimed the lives of all 224 people on board the flight when it crashed in midair over central Sinai, Egypt has insisted that its full investigation must be completed to definitively determine the cause of crash.

The Egyptian government has dismissed statements made by the US and Britain which back the Russian assertion of a terrorist attack, saying that only an official probe can reach such a conclusion.

Quashing theories that the bomb was planted on the plane in Turkey, El-Muqqadam affirmed that black box recordings of the passenger jet indicated that the aircraft's route for five days prior to the crash remained confined to flights between Egyptian and Russian airports only.

Several countries have suspended flights to Sharm El-Sheikh or Egypt altogether over security fears, prompting concerns that the country's already troubled tourism industry could face a huge drop.

Russia has also banned incoming flights by Egypt's state-owned airline EgyptAir over concerns regarding the company's security measures on the back of the disaster.

[AlicetheKurious]

"The technical investigative committee has so far not found anything indicating any illegal intervention or terrorist action," the ministry said in a statement.

Just as I've been saying, all along. Keep in mind that the multinational technical team is independent of any government, and is the only party that can be held legally and professionally responsible for its findings, and for ensuring that they fit the actual evidence.

[Belligerent Savant]

.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/05/world ... rture.html

An Italian’s Brutal Death in Egypt Chills Relations

CAIRO — Four months ago, Giulio Regeni, an Italian doctoral candidate at Cambridge University, arrived in Cairo to improve his Arabic and conduct research among the city’s street vendors.

Now Mr. Regeni, 28, is dead. His body was discovered, half-naked and “with evident signs of torture,” in a ditch on the city limits, prompting an angry reaction on Thursday from Italian officials who seemed deeply skeptical that Egypt would be able, or willing, to find those who killed him.

In Rome, Italian officials summoned Egypt’s ambassador and pressed him to allow a joint investigation into the killing. In Cairo, a government-led Italian trade delegation cut short its stay and went home.

“We want the truth to come out, every last bit of it,” said the Italian foreign affairs minister, Paolo Gentiloni, in an interview with the national broadcaster RAI. “We owe that much to a family that has been stricken in an irreparable way and, at the very least, has the right to know the truth.”

The complication, for Egypt and Italy, though largely unspoken, was that Mr. Regeni did not just bear the telltale signs of torture, but that the cigarette burns and head wounds were a signature form of abuse frequently associated with the Egyptian security forces. There was no proof Mr. Regeni had even been in police custody, and it would be out of character for the authorities to abuse a Westerner. But worries about the impunity of the Egyptian security forces have been growing of late, and an initial declaration by officials that Mr. Regeni had died in a car accident also raised suspicions.

Mr. Regini vanished on Jan. 25 when, on the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ultimately ousted President Hosni Mubarak, he left his apartment for a meeting with a friend at a downtown cafe. It was a day of considerable tension in Cairo: thousands of police officers were scattered across the city to halt any antigovernment protest after a weekslong crackdown that saw the police arrest activists, shutter arts spaces and search apartments.

Friends said that Mr. Regeni was last seen walking toward his local metro station at about 7 p.m. The search to find him ramped up in recent days amid Internet appeals for information and as his parents flew to Cairo, but ended on Wednesday when his body was found on the desert highway leading to Alexandria.

Ahmed Nagy, the Egyptian prosecutor in charge of the investigation, said Mr. Regeni was naked from the waist down and with “evident signs of torture all over.” The wounds, which in addition to apparent cigarette burns included small stab marks, were “concentrated around the face and body,” Mr. Nagy said.

An autopsy completed on Thursday afternoon indicated that he had died from “internal bleeding to the brain as a result of a beating to the head.”

Mr. Nagy cautioned, however, that his findings were preliminary and that the forensic authorities had yet to issue a final report.

Suspicions of an official hand in Mr. Regeni’s death stem from the disappearance into custody of hundreds of Egyptians, often without formal arrest, over the past year, human rights groups say.

Still, it would be rare for a foreigner to disappear in such a manner. And Mr. Regeni, described by friends as an open-spirited and culturally dexterous student, was conducting research that appeared to be of little threat to jittery authorities.

Although Mr. Regeni’s chosen subject, informal labor organization, can be politically sensitive in Egypt, he had been cautious in his work, said Rabab el-Mahdi, his supervisor at the American University in Cairo. “He steered clear of anything that was politicized,” she said.

Friends said they could not rule out the possibility that his death was the result of a random criminal act, a botched kidnapping or Islamist militancy, though they acknowledged having no special insight into the investigation. In August, a militant group associated with the Islamic State beheaded a Croatian man, Tomislav Salopek, after snatching him on the outskirts of Cairo.

Still, there was concern that the authorities would not conduct a thorough investigation.

“What we know is that it is an accident,” Alaa Azmi, the deputy head of criminal investigations in Cairo’s twin province of Giza, told The Associated Press before the autopsy had been completed.

Reflexive denials of foul play are common among Egyptian officials, especially in matters that could embarrass the state. Investigations into the deaths of other foreigners in recent months, including eight Mexican tourists who were killed by accident by the security forces in the Western Desert, have been criticized for a lack of transparency.

The murky circumstances of Mr. Regeni’s death caused a visible chill in Egypt’s relations with Italy, which was the first Western country to welcome Mr. Sisi after the ouster of the democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013. On Wednesday, reports that Mr. Regeni’s body had been found prompted an Italian trade delegation, led by the economic development minister, Federica Guidi, to cut short a visit to Cairo. Earlier, Ms. Guida had urged Mr. Sisi to intervene personally in the case, Italian media outlets reported.

On Thursday, the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it expected “maximum collaboration at all levels in light of the exceptional gravity of what happened.”

Italy said it was asking Egypt to “immediately start a joint investigation with the participation of Italian experts.”

After a meeting with Mr. Gentiloni in London, Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, said only that the two countries had agreed to increase cooperation “to determine the cause of the death.”

On her Facebook page, the Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif said there was “something so extra sad about a person who comes to Egypt in good faith to live and study and gets caught in this nightmare, this obtuse and brutal thuggery that’s the undertone of our lives here today.”

[stefano]

Mr. Regeni, described by friends as an open-spirited and culturally dexterous student, was conducting research that appeared to be of little threat to jittery authorities.

Although Mr. Regeni’s chosen subject, informal labor organization, can be politically sensitive in Egypt, he had been cautious in his work, said Rabab el-Mahdi, his supervisor at the American University in Cairo. “He steered clear of anything that was politicized,” she said.

This isn't right. Union and labour issues are extremely sensitive, as the government squeezes the workers in state- and military-owned industries to afford big secret budgets, planes and shit they're buying from the French, the Americans and the Russians, and interest payments to the Saudis. Can't have helped that he wore a beard and went out to meet a contact on January 25.

[AlicetheKurious]

The murder of Giulio Regeni has some very important, even global ramifications. The New York Times is neither an objective, nor a reliable source of information. It has engaged in very selective coverage, suppressed crucial information, and fabricated false claims. An instance of the latter is its claim that two unidentified "witnesses" stated that Regeni had been arrested by two plainclothes security officers at 6:00 pm on the day of his disappearance. Italian and Egyptian investigators have issued statements discrediting the New York Times' claim, citing the phone messages sent by Regeni to his fiancee and to the professor with whom he had an appointment that evening, as well as his continuing Facebook posts until 7:30 pm. Also, it's hard to believe that these two mysterious "witnesses" failed to contact the investigators and instead chose to talk to the New York Times or any other media. The Egyptian authorities strongly deny that Regeni was ever arrested or in government custody.

There's also the fact, uncovered by the Italian press, that Regeni worked for a private intelligence firm, Oxford Analytica. This original article, in Italian, is here. I translated it using a combination of Google Translate and Babylon:

Regeni Worked for an Intelligence Firm in London
It was founded by a former US official involved in Watergate
16/02/2016
ALESSANDRA RIZZO
LONDON

The story of Giulio Regeni door curiously leads to the door of an old scandal, that of Nixon. While living in Britain, the Friulian student had worked for a year at an intelligence firm founded by a former US official implicated in the Watergate scandal. Today, his former colleagues and friends at the company, Oxford Analytica, are among the promoters of a petition calling on the UK government to put pressure on the Egyptian authorities investigating the affair.

"Giulio was a great colleague, sociable, fun. We miss him very much," recalls Ram Mashru, another young talent with whom Giulio shared a room at Oxford Analytica. "He was extremely cautious in conducting his work," he adds, "Sure, there's always the chance that he attracted the attention of some dangerous group, but from what we know Giulio did not act recklessly or negligently."

Oxford Analytica is a further step in the history of Giulio, another piece of the ten years since the researcher (moved to) Cambridge UK, and could, perhaps, provide some detail to explain his death. The group analyzes political and economic trends on a global scale for private entities, agencies and some fifty governments, a kind of privatization of the highest level of intelligence gathering.

It has offices, as well as in Oxford, in New York, Washington and Paris, and has a network of 1,400 employees. It promises "actionable intelligence", information on which we can act, not ideologies or political inclinations.

From September 2013 to September 2014, Giulio worked in the production of the "Daily Brief", a dozen articles published daily on main events and sent to a list of elite clients. It is "one of the leading products of the group", modeled on the briefing that Kissinger prepared for Nixon. Yes, because the history of the founder of Oxford Analytica, David Young, also involves one of the most sinister chapters in US history. Young was in the Nixon White House, among the leaders of the so-called "plumbers", the group that was to "plug" the leaks and which also included G. Gordon Liddy and Howard Hunt, both of whom ended up behind bars for Watergate. After the scandal, Young left America to complete a PhD in international relations at Oxford (legend has it that his thesis was locked away because it contained confidential information), and in 1975 he founded Oxford Analytica., whose board also includes John Negroponte, former director of the United States Intelligence Community and Sir Colin McColl, former head of MI6, the British secret service.

Mashru explains that special contracts of the group, which typically involve between one and six months of work, remain confidential. Certainly the company is keeping a low profile. It sent a message privately to Giulio's family, and the rest is "no comment".

From Cambridge emerges the professor Glen Rangwala, with whom Regeni would have had to work for a course after his return from Egypt. Rangwala denies the hypothesis that someone at the University someone may have passed the boy's reports to state intelligence services: "For no reason in the world would the academicians of Cambridge transfer a student's research to secret services."

His former colleagues and friends are attempting a public action, with a petition calling for the UK government to ensure a "credible" investigation into the death of Giulio. The petition has so far collected about 4,500 signatures, but it takes ten thousand to force a government response. Which for now is silent. "The investigation is in the hands of the Egyptian authorities," they say.

This information may or may not be relevant to Regeni's murder. If he was gathering intelligence and/or frequenting unionists, this would have definitely put him into close contact with a range of people, including many Muslim Brothers and Islamists, who are heavily involved in union and anti-government "activism". Some media have pointed out that this may have put him on the police's radar, but neglect to mention that it also placed him in circles that include some very unsavory characters. Both his laptop and his cell-phone are missing (his phone and internet records, however, are in the hands of investigators).

What we do know is that Regeni was not just murdered, but was badly tortured and deliberately disfigured. His ears were cut off, his fingernails and toenails were torn out, and he was repeatedly burned with cigarettes all over his body. He was shocked with electric cables. His body was dumped, naked from the waist down, on a road on the outskirts of Cairo, within a few kilometers from the Pyramids, that is very busy during the day but much quieter at night.

In other words, his murder and disfigured body were designed to create the maximum amount of public shock and outrage. It was intended as a message, but to whom?

He disappeared on January 25th, and was discovered 8 days later, on February 3rd.

In the weeks leading up to January 25th, all of Egypt was on high alert, due to an avalanche of threats emanating from the Muslim Brotherhood, Daesh/"ISIS", and related terrorist and self-styled "revolutionary" groups via their satellite TV stations based in Turkey, Qatar and elsewhere, and social media, proclaiming January 25th as the launch date of a new, and violent "revolution". The Egyptian security forces raided a number of terrorist dens, some of which contained massive quantities of weapons and explosives. The sheer amount and power of the explosives indicated that something very big had been planned. In one neighborhood in Giza, not far from where Regeni's body was later found, an apartment had been booby-trapped. When police entered it, it exploded, destroying the top four stories of the building and killing six policemen, as well as several civilians. Besides several bombings and IED attacks in northern Sinai near the Gaza border, all the terrorist hideouts uncovered by police were in areas surrounding Cairo. In the heart of Cairo itself, surrounding Tahrir Square, the demand for short-term leases on empty apartments suddenly surged. As news spread that police were investigating this intriguing phenomenon, and seeking to question those who were offering well above market prices, the interest dried up.

January 25th dawned, an unusually cold and rainy day. Most private and public workers had been given a day off, ostensibly to commemorate the date, which is a national holiday not only because of the events of 2011, but because historically it has been celebrated as "National Police Day"; this year, the fear that the police had not managed to thwart all the terrorist plots kept people home. Instead of the crowds proclaimed by Al-Jazeera and all the other Muslim Brotherhood-linked media, the streets were deserted. People stayed at home and watched scene after scene of empty streets until they got bored and switched to some other pastime. Some, like me, entertained themselves by watching Al-Jazeera broadcast old footage of Brotherhood marches and claiming that it was live. The films showed people trying to shade themselves from the burning sun, wearing short sleeves and summer clothes, while our windows showed us a slate-gray sky and we huddled in our thick sweaters and blankets, trying to keep warm. That was the only day this winter I kept the fireplace burning all day. Oh yeah, and they also showed images of Tahrir Square with hundreds of protesters, which was very funny, because the Square has changed a lot, and at its center there's a large granite platform with a very tall flag pole waving the Egyptian flag. The photos were of Tahrir Square as it looked four years ago, with the original landscaping and no flag pole. By mid-morning, even Al-Jazeera gave up, and turned to other "news". We had a field-day on social media, with much hilarity.

So, it's safe to say that the much-hyped "revolution" was a fizzle. This was more than embarrassing, it was enraging. It's also safe to say that those who had been dreaming of this day and working themselves up, and promising their followers a glorious day of revenge, of fire and bombs and terror and bloody body parts flying, needed to do something terrible against Egypt. But why an Italian?

The first non-Arab country to embrace Egypt after the election of President Sisi, was Italy. The oil company that had discovered the gargantuan natural gas fields in Egypt, the ones that destroyed in one fell swoop Israel's own grandiose, gas-fueled ambitions, is an Italian one. Italy is in the process of negotiating huge joint projects with Egypt, and a delegation of 60 top Italian business leaders had just arrived on February 3, headed by the Italian Economic Cooperation Minister Federica Guidi. The delegation was scheduled to sign major Italian-Egyptian contracts in a wide range of industries, including aerospace and defense and renewable energy, worth billions of Euros. When Giulio's body was found, the Minister and most of the delegates were forced to cut their visit short and return home, with many of the contracts left unsigned.

The international media, implacably hostile to Egypt since Morsi's overthrow, did everything possible to pin the murder on Egyptian police. Where no evidence existed, they made it up. The US' usual team of Egyptian "activists" and "revolutionaries" did the same. Obama personally telephoned the Italian prime minister to offer America's assistance in investigating this crime. Beyond the savagery of the crime itself, the economic cost to Egypt has been devastating. Egypt is already suffering badly from the absence of tourists since the Russian plane crash in November, and such a terrible murder has only made things worse. The planned economic partnership with Italy is on hold until the murder is solved and the criminals are brought to justice.

All of which point to a number of answers to the question: cui bono?

But in any criminal investigation, there are other questions that must be answered as well: Who had the means to hold this man for 8 days without being discovered, even though he was being horribly tortured and presumably not quiet at all? Who had a motive to torture, disfigure and display his body in such a spectacular way? Who had the opportunity to kidnap him, keep him out of sight and hearing for over a week, and to transport his body without being stopped at one of the innumerable police check-points that dotted all the roads and streets surrounding Cairo during the days before and after January 25th?

I don't know, and the investigation is ongoing. My own suspicions are that the crime was committed by a group of individuals and a relatively large number of accomplices, probably based quite close to where the body was left and very familiar with the area. That area borders the desert, but is also very close to some shanty-towns illegally built on former farmlands that have a long and dirty history of being hotbeds of criminal and especially armed and violent Islamist activity. I hear that the police are focusing their investigation there, and questioning hundreds of people. The Italian investigators are working with the Egyptian police. The stakes are incredibly high for both countries, and I'm confident that the investigation will yield positive results soon, and the criminals will be identified and captured.