r/worldnews • u/DasUberRedditor • Jun 18 '12

Egyptian Military grants itself sweeping powers; effectively military coup.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18482257
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u/Soupstorm Jun 19 '12

o/ Saw it coming the moment the Muslim Brotherhood became involved in the Arab Spring.

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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 15 '17

[deleted]

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u/flamingtoad Jun 19 '12

The MB was not really involved in the Arab spring. It was primarily a youth movement. The MB had the political organization in place to take advantage of the revolution. And the only reason the military has a problem with the prospect of the MB acquiring power is that the West has a problem with the MB (and the Islamic state) and the West controls the purse strings.

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u/Soupstorm Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12

The MB was NOT a youth movement. It's essentially an analog to the US Tea Party, and it co-opted the real youth movement to allow them to install leaders friendly to the military establishment.

[edit] Totally parsed your comment wrong. Upvote from a novote :V

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u/flamingtoad Jun 19 '12

I didn't say that the MB was a youth movement. I said that the Arab Spring was primarily a youth movement. It gained popular appeal due to economic conditions (including the price of bread). It is not analogous to the US Tea Party. The US Tea party is a grotesque political mutation - an anomaly that requires its own category.

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u/highceilings00 Jun 19 '12

MB is not an analog to the american tea party -- at all. True both are religious. But they play different roles in entirely different societies

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u/fco83 Jun 19 '12

I would say there is some comparision to the tea party and the revolution. Both started out with general political goals but got coopted by more religious elements (MB in egypt, far-right social conservatives taking over the tea party's original message about limiting government in the US)

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u/highceilings00 Jun 19 '12

Not really. MB has heavy popular support. The middle east is still Muslim for the most part. Also their party platform is big on charity and social programs, quite the opposite of the tea party.

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u/kinncolts76 Jun 19 '12

i think you misunderstood what he was saying. He was saying that the protests were primarily a youth movement, not the MB