Clashes between the Egyptian military and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood left scores dead and hundreds injured Wednesday, and Middle East expert Dr. Mike Evans says the turmoil will eventually lead to an Egyptian civil war.
Evans is a longtime Middle East scholar and is a decades-long friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He says radical Islamic elements will keep fighting for their cause and that almost certainly means much more misery for Egypt.
“You’ll have civil war, ultimately, in Egypt. There’s no question about it. It’s not over yet. This is a battle for Islam. It’s not about Democracy. It never was,” said Evans.
He says the fight is really between radical Sunni and Shia elements, both of whom want to establish a Middle East caliphate. He says the Shias want to have Iran as the anchor of the caliphate and Sunnis were hoping to have their base in a Muslim Brotherhood-controlled Egypt.
Millions of Egyptians took to the streets to demand the removal of Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood government in June and early July. The military responded by removing Morsi from power July 3. But while popular sentiment seems to be on the side of the military, Evans says the Muslim Brotherhood is very skilled at molding public opinion.
“About one-third of the population is uneducated and another two-thirds are unemployed. About 60 percent of the population are young people. The mullahs and madrassas are emboldening them and dumbing them down. It’s a real problem,” said Evans, who fears greatly for the Christian population in Egypt.
“They’re in the cross hairs. It’s the same way in the Palestinian territories. They’re hated, they’re despised, they’re considered aligned with the West. It’s a battle,” he said.
Evans is also rolling his eyes over the latest U.S. efforts to foster peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The initial round consists of low-level talks set up by Secretary of State John Kerry.
“You’ve got John Kerry on his white horse, trying to save the day by forcing Israel to release terrorists and make peace with the Palestinians, who don’t want peace,” said Evans. “Netanyahu told me personally that there’s things he would not allow: territories, treaties, an army or airspace. In order for the Palestinians to have a state, they have to have treaties. They have to have an army. They’ve got to have airspace. The prime minister will never ever give that up. It’s just not going to happen.
“It’s wrong for Kerry to come in there and give them false expectations, because when he does that he gets people killed. They revert back to the terror card and Jews die,” he said.
So how would Evans sum up the Obama administration’s performance on Middle East policy?
“Barack Obama is Jimmy Carter on steroids. Clinton had it right when he said it was a fairy tale. He doesn’t have any comprehension of what he’s trying to sell. He wants Islam to have their equal rights. He doesn’t understand what they will do with those equal rights,” said Evans.
The Iranian nuclear program is still hanging over the region and the world as well. Evans says covert Israeli activity caused quite a bit of delay in Iran. Despite that, he says Iran is a “screwdriver away from going nuclear.” As a result, he says Israel will soon be forced to take pre-emptive action.
“Israel’s going to do it. Israel will be the U.S. proxy. They’re going to have to do the attack. What Israel’s hoping for is the United States will give them backup for retaliatory targets. There’s about 1,100 hard targets that have to be taken out,” said Evans, who believes the U.S. will provide that support. But he’s convinced the Israeli attack is only a matter of time.
“Everything is on for the attack. It’s going to happen. Something very significant has to happen to stop it,” he said. “It’s definitely on the calendar.”
