Egypt’s military regime set to free Mubarak

In 2011, a heroic mass revolution deposed U.S.-supported Egyptian dictator Gen. Hosni Mubarak. This uprising was an inspiration to poor and oppressed people all over the world. Its current assassins — which include the new military regime of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and U.S. imperialism — deserve the condemnation of all progressive and justice-seeking people everywhere.

In another travesty of justice, Egyptian courts on Nov. 28 dismissed all serious charges against the previous military dictator, Gen. Mubarak. These charges stem from the murder of 239 people protesting Mubarak’s regime in 2011. The same ruling cleared Mubarak’s interior minister and six other aides, while Mubarak and his two sons were also cleared of corruption charges.

Now not only has a new pro-imperialist military dictatorship replaced Mubarak, but he and his family’s cronies have been exonerated. Soon Mubarak is set to leave the prison hospital where he has been confined.

Since Egypt’s army took advantage of popular antagonism to the Muslim Brotherhood government and led a military coup that deposed elected President Mohammed Morsi two summers ago, al-Sisi’s regime has become increasingly repressive and brutal. On Dec. 3, nearly 200 imprisoned protesters, members of the Muslim Brotherhood, were handed death sentences en masse. This was the third such mass sentencing in less than a year.

Despite occasional verbal barbs from the al-Sisi regime directed at the U.S., Washington has become increasingly supportive of the general. Not only does the U.S. supply the Egyptian army with billions of dollars in military and economic aid and weapons, but U.S. officials offer praise and diplomatic support. Secretary of State John Kerry praised al-Sisi for “restoring democracy.” Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton paid him a friendly visit, followed by Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright. That’s one former U.S. president and three former secretaries of state. (The Intercept, Dec. 3)

In late September, President Barack Obama met with al-Sisi and, according to The Intercept, “touted the longstanding relationship between the United States and Egypt as a cornerstone of [U.S.] security policy in the Middle East.”

Al-Sisi showed his pro-imperialist posture during the recent genocidal Israeli invasion of Gaza, which killed over 2,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, including many children. The Egyptian government-controlled press blamed Hamas. Meanwhile, the al-Sisi regime closed the border crossings between Egypt and Gaza, strengthening the illegal embargo against the Palestinians.

Since he took power, al-Sisi has massacred thousands of protesters and jailed thousands more, including many journalists who simply reported on the carnage. Proof of the regime’s crimes were recently revealed in a series of audiotapes from the Egyptian top military brass by Mukameleen, an Arabic satellite channel. The individuals heard on the recordings included some of the major figures who were involved in the military coup and have ruled the country ever since. They are heard not only openly conspiring and planning the coup against Morsi, but admitting that the trumped-up charges against Morsi had no merit. (Counterpunch, Dec. 5-7)

None of these events are surprising. Before he became head of the Egyptian army under Mubarak, al-Sisi attended the U.S. War College. He was chief of intelligence under Mubarak at the very time that protesters were being killed in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The news from Egypt is grim. It also makes it clear that the al-Sisi regime is an enemy of the people, as is U.S. imperialism.