When areas in Ghouta near Damascus are bombed with chemical weapons, and the corpses of children are lined side by side in a picture reminiscent of the Nazi Holocaust, the Syrian regime would have pushed its desire to survive to a surreal level. Indeed, what the regime is saying through that deadly ‘message,' is that it is willing to do anything, absolutely anything, in order to remain in power. But it is also saying that those it had targeted with chemical weapons are not the regime's people. They are another, dehumanized people. Saddam Hussein once expressed the same thing so eloquently, when he said, by bombing Halabja with chemical weapons, that the Kurds of Iraq are not his people. In a gentler way, but not necessarily less dangerous, the July 23 regime in Egypt is saying that it is not willing to accept the change brought about by the January 2011 revolution. For instance, the release of President Hosni Mubarak, on the orders of the ‘deputy military governor,' to house arrest, is tantamount to apologizing for the revolution. As for the wretched President Mohamed Morsi, who was elected by the Egyptians after their revolution, he is currently languishing in prison along with the leaders and cadres of the Muslim Brotherhood, including the Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie. But why is this the July 23 regime? Well, because all the eras and their sensitivities, between 1952 and 2011, are represented in it: The Nasserists are present in it through Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi's invoking of Nasser, and the exploitative summoning of ‘Egyptian national dignity," not to mention the fact that Hamdeen Sabahi's Nasserists have lined up behind the military coup. The Sadatists are present in it, through the hawkish advocates of economic liberalization, and the ‘liberals' who cannot stand the Islamists or tolerate their presence in power, if not all of society. Finally, the Mubarakists are strongly present in it, through the ‘fulul,' or the remnants of the Mubarak regime, who have now restored their infamy and have been vindicated. Being the July 23 regime is also evident from its position of seeking the near annihilation of the Muslim brotherhood, the same approach of Nasser since 1954, which he revived in the 1960s, before Sadat and then Mubarak followed in his footsteps. Indeed, the demonization of the Brotherhood is a key feature of the July 23 regime, at least since 1954. In the meantime, the experience of Mohamed ElBaradei provides another proof that we are dealing with the July 23 regime. To be sure, this liberal politician, who tried to undo his mistake when he gave cover to the coup by resigning from his official post, may be tried for "betraying duty." As is known, politicians like ElBaradei can overcome the ‘localism' some call ‘patriotism,' and link Egyptian politics to other broader global spheres, and therefore have no place in the July 23 regime. In short, these are regimes that never depart. Sixty-one years since the establishment of the July 23 regime in Egypt, and fifty years with the Baath in power in Syria seem to be insufficient to turn the page on the two regimes. Before them, the Baath had ruled Iraq for 35 years, and Muammar Gaddafi for 42 years, and were it not for foreign intervention, they would have still been in power today, bequeathing their posts to their sons. Our entire world will rot because of this unbound insanity that nothing can deter! This is happening under our noses all and under our very eyes.
