Manufacturing Dissent: U.S. covertly fermented uprising in Egypt to protect its interest

Millions of Egyptians who are demanding democratic rule, human rights, end to authoritarian Mubarak regime and rule of law are well aware that the regime was a prop of the United States with $1.3 billion annual military aid which helped perpetuate the regime’s repressive rule.

Yet, with the second week completing the mass uprising in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other major and not-so-major cities throughout the Egyptian land there was no anti-American sentiments expressed; no slogans denouncing US support to the Mubarak regime in display; no attack on US government-owned property; no American diplomatic personnel was harmed, but instead the agitators carried the revised version of candidate Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign slogan ‘Yes We Can, Too’.

The secret is: for about three years or so the United States administration – both Bush and Obama- while militarily supporting the Mubarak regime to maintain the American interest in the region and safeguard the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Accord both regimes strongly felt that there was unrest within the Egyptian society especially among the younger generation which is 66% of the population resulting from the autocratic-brutal tactics of the regime suppressing human rights, using torture, preventing dissent, disallowing the emergence of political opposition and lack of economic opportunity.

Sensing a nation-wide agitation or uprising will not only disable or topple America’s strongest ally in the region which would have devastating effect on U.S. interests there, the United States took very early precautions to identify, build and maintain contacts with potential youth leaders in the Egyptian society to maintain a delicate balance between ‘US national interests and democratic reforms’.

As the nationwide uprising reaches the third week one could observe how the Obama administration is endeavoring to maintain that balance without forcing Hosni Mubarak to leave office immediately but strongly encouraging genuine transition to democracy while sounding to be on the side of mass movement saying “the U.S. supports all means for orderly transfer of power to democracy as history is unfolding in Egypt”. (Obama in Michigan February 10)

In fact the dialogue with the Egyptian youthful dissidents commenced during the later stage of the Bush administration, secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley taking the initiative, and incumbent secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton continuing the rapport.

This writer who once associated with political diplomacy and strategic communication in the U.S. State Department at its overseas diplomatic post in Sri Lanka was one of the staffers who contributed toward the development of a document called the “Potential Leaders List’ every several years identifying potential leaders in all spheres of the society such as political, labor, media, trade and commerce, and even arts/entertainment. The ‘targets’ are dead correct, and similarly all U.S. overseas diplomatic missions prepare this list for the State Department and for the use of the individual mission for policy decisions, deliberations, covert or overt political activities, to influence host government policies, reverse their decisions and promote opposition dissident voices or their leaders.

Undoubtedly, the U.S. diplomatic mission in Cairo identified youth leaders as far back as late 2007 or early 2008 to open a dialogue.

That was the beginning of the Bush administration’s attempt that fermented widespread unrest that the world is witnessing today in Egypt. And the objective was to safeguard American interests in the region. The best way to protect American interests in the Middle East is to prevent Egypt from falling into the domain of radical Islamists with the Muslim Brotherhood taking the lead by fermenting non ideological youths to play a greater role eventually moving Mubarak and his Company out of the scene.

The Condoleezza Rice-State Department and Hadley-National Security Council were using the New Generation of Advocates Program of the Freedom House as a professional training and exchange program which supports young civil society activists who are working for democracy, human rights and peaceful political change in the Middle East and North Africa notably Egypt.

As part of its mission to support the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world, Freedom House has been bringing young Middle Eastern reformers to the United States and Central and Eastern Europe on fellowships. The New Generation of Advocates Program is supported by funds from the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization that supports the expansion of freedom around the world. Freedom House supports democratic change, monitors freedom, and advocates for democracy and human rights. Since its founding in 1941 by prominent Americans concerned with the mounting threats to peace and democracy, Freedom House has been a vigorous proponent of democratic values and a steadfast opponent of dictatorships of the far left and the far right.

In 2001 Freedom House had income of around $11m, increasing to over $26m in 2006. Much of the increase was due to an increase between 2004 and 2005 in US government federal funding, from $12m to $20m. Federal funding fell to around $10m in 2007, but still represented around 80% of Freedom House's budget. As one scholar noted, "This is unusual, especially when one considers that the organizations involved in the assessment and monitoring of human rights, democracy and freedom in the world refuse on principle - as a guarantee of their independence and credibility – government funding.”

Freedom House receives the majority of its funding from the U.S. government through the National Endowment for Democracy, USAID, and the State Department.
In May 2009 there were 17 young Egyptian activists in a training designed to strengthen the advocacy and networking skills under the auspices of the State Department and handled by the Freedom House.

Daniel Calingaert, deputy director of programs at Freedom House, describing the Egyptian youth group said "It is a very diverse group, people with different outlooks, from different backgrounds, including human rights activists, lawyers, women's rights activists, journalists, bloggers." He further says. "But what they all share is a hope for a better future in Egypt and a strong interest in promoting reform."

The 17 Egyptian fellows spent five weeks working with their American counterparts to hone their skills as social and political reformers.

One of the participants May Kosba who is a senior program specialist at the Youth and Development Institute, a non-governmental organization in Egypt said "There is a lot of youth who are unemployed, who need to see a better future, and I believe as an Egyptian who strives for a better life that we deserve a lot better.So whatever I learned in this training, now I have a clear idea of what I need to do, in how to approach the youth, how to speak with them and how to be more accepting of their diversity. We have advocacy training on how to speak to people, how to analyze the problems and the needs and put them together and see how to get the message across."

According to Freedom House, civil society organizations in the Middle East and North Africa often lack clear agendas or realistic action plans for reform. They tend to focus on ideological manifestos and conferences, rather than on concrete plans for action.

One news report said: To support the emergence of a new generation of democracy advocates in the Middle East and North Africa, the Freedom House program also provides its fellows with mentors - including lawmakers in the United States and Europe, former ambassadors, academics and journalists. Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, is one of the mentors. He told the young Egyptian activists that Washington has been trying to nudge Egypt in a more participatory direction, to give its people a stronger voice in their own lives.

"We have been trying to do this for more than half a century, and quite frankly, we are not there, and you know what? We are not going to get there. You are going to get there," Alterman says. "We can help. We can inspire. We can give you some ideas. But the action, the real drive, has to come from you. It will come from you. People have seen it coming from you, and that is what changes the world."

Exiled Egyptian democracy activist Saad Eldin Ibrahim, now a visiting professor at Harvard University, praises the Freedom House New Generation of Advocates Program, which is funded by the U.S. government's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Ibrahim says providing a young leader with practical, hands-on advocacy experience in a mature civil society is a powerfully effective way to promote democracy - and protect freedom in the world.

In fact, the Egyptian youth brought to the U.S. for ‘training’ and ‘dialogue’ are dissidents in that society who want a change to representative democracy and end to autocratic rule.

These ‘dialogues’ and trainings’ are programmed through the Freedom House and National Endowment for Democracy, heavily funded by the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) by the highest level of the U.S. government in anticipation of the collapse of authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, a Washington design applied in different regions of the World in different way.

The ‘design’ cooperates with dissident activists, persons of major opposition parties and civil society organizations, and with youth activists. Egypt was one target nation of the American ‘design’.

This process or design is implemented and financed by US based foundations including the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Freedom House (FH). Both FH and the NED have links to the US Congress, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and the US business establishment. Both the NED and FH are known to have ties to the CIA.

The NED is actively involved in Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria. Freedom House supports several civil society organizations in Egypt.

And this operation seems to have produced some results in Tunisia, and now in Egypt.

Stephen Gowans in “What’s left” write-up in January 2011 said "The NED was established by the Reagan administration after the CIA’s role in covertly funding efforts to overthrow foreign governments was brought to light, leading to the discrediting of the parties, movements, journals, books, newspapers and individuals that received CIA funding. ... As a bipartisan endowment, with participation from the two major parties, as well as the AFL-CIO and US Chamber of Commerce, the NED took over the financing of foreign overthrow movements, but overtly and under the rubric of “democracy promotion.”

One media comment said: While the US has supported the Mubarak government for the last thirty years, US foundations with ties to the US State department and the Pentagon have actively supported the political opposition including the civil society movement.

According to Freedom House: "Egyptian civil society is both vibrant and constrained. There are hundreds of non-governmental organizations devoted to expanding civil and political rights in the country, operating in a highly regulated environment."

In a bitter irony, Washington supports the Mubarak dictatorship, including its atrocities, while also backing and financing its detractors, through the activities of Freedom House, National Endowment for Democracy, among others.

It has been reported in the media that under the auspices of Freedom House, Egyptian dissidents and opponents of Hosni Mubarak were received in May 2008 by Condoleezza Rice at the State Department and the US Congress. They also met White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who was "the principal White House foreign policy adviser" during George W. Bush's second term.

Freedom House’s effort to empower a new generation of advocates has yielded tangible results and the New Generation program in Egypt has gained prominence both locally and internationally. Egyptian visiting fellows from all civil society groups received [May 2008] unprecedented attention and recognition, including meetings in Washington with US Secretary of State, the National Security Advisor, and prominent members of Congress. In the words of Condoleezza Rice, the fellows represent the "hope for the future of Egypt."

Let’s Repeat This Again: The Egyptian pro-democracy delegation to the State Department was described by Condoleezza Rice as "The Hope for the Future of Egypt".

In May 2009, Hillary Clinton met a delegation of Egyptian dissidents, several of which had met Condoleezza Rice a year earlier. These high level meetings were held a week prior to Obama's visit to Egypt:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the work of a group of Egyptian civil society activists she met on May 28 and said it was in Egypt’s interest to move toward democracy and to exhibit more respect for human rights.

The 16 activists met with Clinton and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman in Washington at the end of a two-month fellowship organized by Freedom House’s New Generation program.

The fellows told Clinton that momentum was already building in Egypt for increased civil and human rights and that U.S. support at this time was urgently needed. They stressed that civil society represents a moderate and peaceful “third way” in Egypt, an alternative to authoritarian elements in the government and those that espouse theocratic rule. (Freedom House, May 2009)

During their fellowship, the activists spent a week in Washington receiving training in advocacy and getting an inside look at the way U.S. democracy works. After their training, the fellows were matched with civil society organizations throughout the country where they shared experiences with U.S. counterparts. The activists wrapped up their program ... by visiting U.S. government officials, members of Congress, media outlets and think tanks." (Freedom House, May 2009, emphasis added)

These opposition civil society groups --which are currently playing an important role in Egypt’s protest movement—are undoubtedly supported and funded by the US. The absence of anti-American sentiments in the so far two-week uprising shows that the United States’ ‘design’ is working to indelibly serve US interests. But, one should not devalue the U.S. efforts in promoting democracy, human rights and representative government with free and fair elections in Egypt.

The invitation of Egyptian dissidents to the State Department and the US Congress also purports to instill a feeling of commitment and allegiance to American democratic values. And one cannot find fault with that as America, despite its weaknesses in propping up dictatorial regimes for its won national interests has taken a moral undertaking to promote democracy, human rights and rule of law in many parts of the World.

The November 2008 classified diplomatic cable from the American embassy in Cairo to Washington State Department, now released by WikiLeaks, gives insights to the U.S. ‘highest level’ involvement in fermenting the democracy movement in Egypt now taking shape. Here is the most interesting section of that diplomatic cable:

(Begin Quote) (SBU) The group included bloggers, journalists, activists from secular opposition parties such as El-Ghad and the Democratic Front Party and movements such as "Kifaya" and "April 6. A lawyer for the group confirmed that a French activist was among the detainees. Some of the detainees are participants in Freedom House's "New Generation" program which provides training for young activists. One member of the group departed for Washington January 18 to participate in a Project on Middle East Democracy program. Contacts confirmed that activist and El-Ghad party member Israa Abdel Fattah was also part of the group. (Note: Abdel Fattah was the subject of headlines in April 2008 when she was arrested and detained for 17 days after her call for an April 6 general strike on Facebook attracted almost 70,000 members (ref B). Following her release, she renounced her activities in a television interview, and has remained out of public view until now. End note.) (End Quote)

The "New Generation" program is "supported by funds from the US State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID)." It has provided Egyptian fellows the opportunity to work with Americans and "hone" skills so they can become "social and political reformers." The program is essentially a pro-democracy initiative.

- Asian Tribune -