The constitutional change paving the way for coup-plotter Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who took hostage his own country and people with armed forces, to physically preside over the Egyptian people until 2030 has been completed with no surprise. In a charade that took place with extremely low turnout and where there was no voter database, there was no likelihood of any dissenting voices anyway.

In the last presidential elections, this dictator, who is supported solely by the power of weapons, arrested and imprisoned everyone running as candidate against him, as well as everyone who even thought of running as candidate, and those who voiced the likelihood of running as candidate.

Sami Annan, chief of General Staff back in former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s time, Hisham Geneina, former head of the Egyptian Central Auditing Organization, and Ahmed Shafik, who had received 48 percent of votes in a real election against former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi were also among these. None of these people are Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood) supporters. Each one of them were simply individuals who were certain to win in a real election or in any election against Sissi. The sole reason they were arrested or pushed out of the elections was their candidacy against Sisi or that others perceived as such.

Now, all the obstacles on the path of Sisi’s dictatorship are eliminated, and the constitutional ground laid, he has guaranteed himself the rule of Egypt for the next 12 years. Of course, God knows what will happen 12 years later. When that time comes and Sisi is still alive, and there is no other development in Egypt, he will think about arranging his stay in power for another 25 years.

Yet, how much will the plan he makes according to himself comply with the realities of Egypt? Will the people of Egypt, which has an extremely dynamic population of more than 100 million, with the rate of youth quickly rising, carry Sisi to the end? What is more, did Sisi stage the coup, massacre thousands of his own people, and is keeping more than a hundred thousand people in dungeons under heavy torture with the rights given by law or the constitution to date? What does the constitution signify for someone like Sisi? What value other than a formal document does it mean for him?

After leaning on the U.S.’s current President Donald Trump, who needs a constitution in the Middle East with the boldness provided by him? Unless there is any shortcoming in the tolls paid to him, everybody can be above all laws or the constitution and kill as many people as they like, violate as many human rights as they want. The U.S. can be the patron of all sorts of evil, massacre and lawlessness in the Middle East for the right price tariffs.

This way, the U.S. is well-associated with an identity that stands out with coups, dictators, protection given to psychopath leaders that massacre their own people, and enmity towards peoples in the Middle East (and as a matter of fact, these days, as can be seen clearly from the picture revealed as a result of Venezuela, in Latin America).

Now, it is understood that the U.S. is preparing to declare the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic political and civilian movement spread across the world, as a terrorist organization. It was obvious that Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia had been pressuring the U.S. to adopt this decision for some time now. A serious resistance against these pressures especially during the Barack Obama period was also known. The reason behind this resistance is first, the whole world knows this movement has nothing to do with terrorism, second, this movement represents the most moderate, civilian and legitimate political aspect of Islam, such a decision by the U.S. carries the risk of being perceived as a total declaration of war against not only this organization but Islam, and third, that it is difficult to get even the American public to accept this.

It is clear that Trump is no longer resisting against such pressures that the Obama administration constantly resisted against. It is quite likely that he accepted without resistance the moment it was on his agenda. Trump, who received Sisi last month, did not reject this request, and accepted such a decision that can wipe out all of the U.S.’s values in an instant.

Of course, the question that will come to mind more frequently at this stage is, does the U.S., which bred the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – recognized as a terrorist organization by even their own classifications – with unseen armed support in Syria against its own ally Turkey, have the right or plausibility to classify terrorism?

It is obvious that the U.S., which abstains from classifying as a terrorist organization the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) that attempted a coup in Turkey using its secretly armed elements, and killed 250 people and wounded 2,200 people during this attempt, and which is harboring the leader of that organization in its country, identifying a movement that has approved or resorted to no armed action to date as a terrorist organization is going to deliver a new blow to the U.S.’s own credibility.

Reaching such a decision under the guidance of Sisi, who has pushed out all his most legitimate opponents through incredible games and come to power through a bloody coup featuring crimes against humanity, is enough as a shameful stigma in U.S. history.

Yet, the U.S., which claims world hegemony, could have made more serious achievements. If it really invested in the democracy and human rights it represents with sincerity, it could have continued its hegemony not only as an armed power, but rightfully at the level of representing humane values. However, the U.S. chooses to be a tyrant power that allies itself with coup-plotters, gangs and terrorist organizations that invoke no respect or admiration, rather than being a superpower.

This is the choice of the Trump-ruled U.S. His guides in this choice are these business partners. This guidance shows that the U.S. will never be out of trouble.

By: Yasin Aktay – The article was published by Yeni Safak Turkish newspaper on 4 May 2019.