Here’s a headline that will give you chills:
That’s from a NYT report which goes on like this:
Two of the Persian Gulf’s richest monarchies pledged $8 billion in cash and loans to Egypt on Tuesday, a decision that was aimed not only at shoring up a shaky transitional government, but also at undermining their Islamist rivals and strengthening their allies across a newly turbulent Middle East.
The robust financial aid package announced by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates came a day after the Egyptian military killed dozens of Muslim Brotherhood members protesting last week’s military ouster of Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi. The aid package underscored a continuing regional contest for influence between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, one that has accelerated since the Arab uprising upended the status quo and brought Islamists to power.
The other “arena” in the Middle East is Syria, which pits an odd (but old) alliance of mostly-secular Syrian Alawites and Persian Shi’a Islamists both armed by Russia and China against a ragtag collection of Arab oil interests, secular reformers, frustrated Sunni farmers and merchants, and al Qaeda — all receiving western aid to varying degrees. So, yeah, there’s some bloodshed. Go figure.
In Egypt you have the secularists in collusion with the Wahhabis against the Muslim Brotherhood which until very recently was the shining star of Obama’s second term foreign policy. The bloodshed is probably just getting started.
Because whenever you think the Middle East can’t possibly get more fucked up, you’re wrong.
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