Below is a link to an in-depth analysis of what's going on in Egypt. ``Sightings of the Egyptian Deep State'' by Issandr El Amrani.
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero010112
It's not pretty. The battle lines are multiple between SCAF the military and its mix of civilian-military elites who were the armature of the Mubarak regime, the mix of conservative and moderate Islamic parties, and the wash of secular parties who will be under represented.
``In the eyes of some, the protest movement and the political class share blame with the SCAF for the stalling of the post-Mubarak transition -- the former for taking to the streets without a clearer long-term agenda, the latter for failing to elaborate a coherent counterpoint to SCAF's misadministration. Instead of working together, politicians of all stripes engaged in time-wasting arguments about the identity of Egypt, eventually turning to the SCAF for arbitration.''
Identity here stands for a state with more or less Islamic overtones. The implication is that if the secular parties enter this argument it is a trap because it takes away discussion of the structural changes of government and its powers that need to get done, i.e force the military under civilian control.
I found the link from Greenwal's latest rant:
http://www.salon.com/writer/glenn_greenwald/
Greenwald tackles the US national security state and its failures to convince anyone the US is interested in democracy in Egypt.
Ho hum, but it reminded me there are a lot of analogues to the failed US political economy and its failed empire. I always wondered how you fight a counterinsurgency from an aircraft carrier battle group.
The more I thought about counterinsurgency wars, the more I saw these effectively turned the military into a police organ, which is the other half of the equation of turning US domestic police into military units. Both kick down doors, line up the occupants and toss the place for contraband (money, drugs, and guns). Then they mostly haul off the men for interogation...threating prison or names.
With the top brass moving to the defense industry and security firms and the lower ranks joining police forces there is an operational convergence. When you add in DHS with its combo of NSA, CIA, and FBI you've got quite a convergence between domestic surveillance, covert activities and foreign policy.
With the new defense bill Obama just signed, the military apparatus can join the domestic game. The battle proven methods of the war on terror can be carried out on the domestic front, bringing Iraq and Afghanistan home.
CG