The ultimatum by Egypt's Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi to President Mohamed Morsi to meet the demands of the people, which Morsi rejected before being ousted by the army on Wednesday, created an unprecedented crisis in Egypt and deepened the political and ideological polarization in a manner that threatened civil peace. Egypt is now in a state of political uncertainty which is occurring in the midst of a severe economic crisis that has placed the country on the brink of bankruptcy and has led to the dismantling of state institutions.?Each Egyptian party has spoken of a roadmap in recent days. The painful truth is that no party alone has a roadmap to save the country. The army does not have such a roadmap and it cannot govern the country directly. The same goes for the opposition with all its parties. And of course neither Morsi nor the Brotherhood who led the country to this dead end had a viable roadmap. The changes that Egypt witnessed between June 2012 and June 2013 were truly amazing. A year ago, the alliance of the liberal and secular parties resulted in the military being sent back to the barracks and the election of Mohamed Morsi as president. In a year, the Islamists imposed their constitution, engaged in a war against the judiciary and Morsi put himself above the law and tried to dominate and implement a “Brotherhoodization” of state institutions. These practices angered the opposition and paved the way for the military to restore its reputation (which is exaggerated) as a national institution. Most Egyptian institutions are today suspended, disbanded or in a state of gradual collapse whether they are the parliament, the judiciary or the internal security forces (that practically announced their disobedience to Morsi) and others. Statistics show that there is a chaotic security situation: crime rates have increased 300 percent and the number of armed robberies have doubled 12 times since 2011. Egyptians are becoming armed at an unprecedented rate. Islamic Shariah is being implemented in Sinai by local committees. Local authorities in some cities assign “baltageya” (thugs) or “local committees” with the task of maintaining security in some neighborhoods because they do not trust the police. Sissi's options are limited. The military coup will eventually backfire against him because it will force the extremist Islamists to engage in a violent secret struggle and it will also risk losing American military support due to the strong opposition in Congress and in the US media. Washington, which had developed good working relations with Morsi, urged the Egyptian army to pressure him to reach a settlement (or a partnership) with the opposition. Obama's administration refused to criticize Morsi's violations publicly. It then treated him like it used to treat Mubarak and it rejected the efforts of the US Congress to suspend aid. Washington's ambassador to Egypt, Ann Paterson, criticized the opposition for resorting to the streets. Morsi paid his debt by tightening the siege around Gaza and drowning its tunnels. He took a strict stance regarding Iran and the Syrian regime. But in the end Obama could not save Morsi.
— Hisham Melhem is the Washington bureau chief of Al Arabiya. Follow him on Twitter @Hisham_Melhem
