Muslim Brotherhood infiltrates Egypt's Army, neutralizing coup threat

http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/secure/2013/03_27/do.asp

 

Muslim Brotherhood infiltrates Egypt's Army, neutralizing coup threat

"The Army is loath to take on the well-organized and powerful Muslim Brotherhood because the majority of its soldiers support the Islamist government." Mohammed Morsi ·  Assumed Office: June 30, 2012 ·  Age: 61

JERUSALEM — The ruling Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated and controls much of the Egyptian Army, a report said.

The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies asserted that the Brotherhood has neutralized any threat of Egyptian military intervention amid rising nationwide unrest. In a report, the center said the Army, which contains strong support for the Brotherhood, would not attempt a coup against the Islamist regime of President Mohammed Morsi.

"Hopes or expectations that the Egyptian military will intervene in the deteriorating political and security crisis are probably misguided," the report, titled "Egypt's Army Will Not Intervene," said. "The Army is loath to take on the well-organized and powerful Muslim Brotherhood because the majority of its soldiers support the Islamist government."

Author Hillel Frisch dismissed the prospect of a military coup against Morsi. Frisch cited Morsi's shakeup of the military command in August 2012, in which those aligned with the former regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak were forced into retirement.

"The probability that the Egyptian Army will be willing to retake the reins of power — or is even capable of doing so, after Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi unceremoniously sent its leaders back to their barracks in August 2012 — is highly unlikely, if not impossible," the report, dated March 12, said.

The report was issued in wake of Morsi's orders for the Army to take over cities abandoned by police and security forces. Already, the Army has been deployed in Port Said, the scene of the worst anti-government riots in 2013.

The report said the Brotherhood could mobilize its millions of supporters to counter any military coup. Frisch said any military campaign against the Brotherhood could spark massive unrest within the troops.

"At least half of the Army recruits, it must be assumed, are supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis, who comprise 30 percent of the Egyptian electorate," the report said. "The Egyptian Army hardly recruits Copts or the Sunni Egyptian upper class that equals roughly 20 percent of the population. The implications of such a recruitment pattern are that the secular and liberals are severely underrepresented in the Army and the Islamists overrepresented. It is only a small section of the former group that would support the Army's intervention in the political crisis."

Egyptian soldiers stand guard near the presidential palace in Cairo on Dec. 13, 2012.   AFP/Getty Images

At the same time, Morsi has taken measures to prevent a military backlash. The report cited the new Egyptian constitution offered a significant salary increase to soldiers and officers.

"One can therefore hardly expect the military to intervene politically and even less to act effectively once it intervenes," the report said.

Moreover, Frisch said, the military did not want to anger the United States, which provides $1.3 billion in annual defense aid. He said the military understands that Washington continued to support Morsi despite reported abuse of civil and human rights.

"The Army realizes that the United States is strongly opposed to military intervention almost anywhere, and especially so against the Morsi government it presently backs," the report said. "In toppling the Morsi government the Army would be jeopardizing United States aid amounting to over one-fifth of the Egyptian military's budget — $1.3 billion out of a total $5.85 billion — considerable transfer of technology, and spare parts and replacements its American-equipped forces inevitably need."