Assad-Sisi Massacres

One of the icons of the Mubarak regime is the prisoner transfer vehicles. Hands extended from the small windows of the primitive and disgusting prisoner transfer trucks express a whole lot. Especially the victory signs political prisoners made with their extended hands were the only way for those who resisted the Mubarak regime in vain for years to hold onto life. It fell onto Sisi to turn one of these transfer trucks into a gas chamber. It was not enough that he killed thousands of people all week, but he had to crown his massacres with sending tens of prisoners to their death by gas. This was vilest massacre of the junta.

It seems that the Baath administration, after having witnessed Sisi’s “gas chamber” massacre go unnoticed, has perfectly timed its most heinous of killing methods – chemical weapons. As a regime that has killed 100,000, the Baath administration is also aware that the green light given to Sisi would be at best a yellow light for them. They also know that while the Gulf as the main sponsor of Sisi’s coup fanatically supports the killing of thousands in Egypt, will not support the Syrian opposition with a warped sense of righteousness. Assad is aware that he will not meet much resistance for the second Halabja massacre in Guta that killed thousands, especially not when the “protection” he acquired while killing hundreds of thousands of people is still in place. Besides, it’s not even considered a moral dilemma anymore. If Putin has his Assad, the United States has its Sisi. Russia dubbed the massacres in Syria “fight against terror” while the U.S. labeled the coup in Egypt “democratization.” Since no one will talk about Iran as long there is Russia, and about the Gulf as long as there is the United States, it appears that no uncontrollable actors could spoil things. If only Erdoğan stopped holding up the mirror to all of them.

The scene is nothing but an Assad-Sisi axis. This axis does not have a future in the Middle East; neither morally nor geopolitically. The only point all analysts of this Assad-Sisi axis, whether intentionally or unintentionally, agree on is the potential of these two for blood baths. Sisi claimed as many victims in one week as Assad did in seven to eight months. When Assad had reached the numbers of victims Sisi claims right now the act of killing had been rendered meaningless. In only 18 months the numbers had soared from 3-4,000 to hundreds of thousands. Each death rendered a political solution a little more moot. Egypt does not have to share the same faith. It certainly does not deserve to share the same faith.

Assad’s Shabbiha proved themselves in killing people. So did Sisi’s Baltagy thugs. The Assad apologists demonstrated, in their columns and TV appearances, just how low they could go. Sisi’s liberals have also shown just how proficient they are in the ways of supporting military coups in the most immoral ways. America should give up thinking that it can fool anyone with unbelievable comments leaked to its mainstream newspapers such as “Sisi did not listen to us, the U.S. does not have any leverage in Egypt”. If the U.S wants to exist as a respected actor in the future, it should begin by digesting the fact that neither Assad nor Sisi will exist in the Middle East’s future. Otherwise, the Middle East trips of many future American Presidents to be might be limited to Jeddah alone!

[Hurriyet Daily News, August 23, 2013]