US NGO Workers Indicted For Plotting To Overthrow Egypt

Posted by Alexander Higgins - February 10, 2012 at 10:26 pm - Permalink - Source via Alexander Higgins Blog

Egypt sends the U.S. an official indictment of over 100 pages charging arrested NGO workers with illegally funneling funds to rig elections, incite unrest, and overthrow the government.

Egyptian news sources (see below) are reporting that the U.S. has been handed an official 100 page indictment outline the charges against American NGO workers being detained in Egypt. U.S. officials say they are in the process of reviewing the document but are having problems with the translation. U.S. media sources continue to report the detained NGO workers as simple civilians working without a permit. Egyptian media tells a different story, saying the detainees are in fact of part of complex of organizations planning to seize control of the Egypt.
The Egypt accuses splinter organizations of both the U.S. Republican and Democrat parties, and other organizations, of illegally funneling money into Egypt. The indictment charges the organizations first used the funneled promote U.S. political candidates and then attempted to manipulate the Egyptian elections to get those candidates elected.
Egypt goes on to state that when that planned failed, and the U.S. candidates were not elected the organizations used the funneled money to plan and organize protests at which the organizations would incite violence and other civil unrest in order to cause riots and destabilize the region to overthrow the government.
All of this of course has been revealed by U.S. media sources already, but it is hard to get the complete picture as outlined in the indictment because every story is packed full of opinions and comments defending the work of the organizations instead of detailing the facts.
To be clear, it is illegal for for organizations to conduct in political activities in Egypt. These organizations were operating under the front of doing community based civil work. Further they were working without permits, which is also illegal, and without work visas to avoid detection. They were also bringing foreign (U.S) money into Egypt with out a permit to so and then using those funds in a manner illegal in Egypt.
At first you may be taken back by the through of the Republican party and the Democratic party trying to ferment civil unrest and incite riots. However, trying keeping The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements in mind while trying to answer the question “What the hell else are our politicians doing in Washington besides trying to ferment civil unrest and spark a revolution?” They sure in the hell aren’t trying to placate the masses.
In case this is all too conspiratorial to you, check out his Guide to the Revolution in Egypt, disseminated by the media for PRIOR to the Protests. I came across this on a blog of a Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia fellow who specializes in “Crisis Mapping” and runs the iRevolution blog:

The above 26-page how-to guide circulated in both hard- and electronic-copy
~~during~~ [before] the first wave of protests in Egypt. The document was translated into English by The Atlantic and outlines a number of critical points central to civil resistance, including very specific demands on the Mubarak regime; concrete goals for the popular resistance and tactical steps to achieve these stated goals. The guide also provided tips on what protection gear to wear and how to engage the police with the use of spray paint.
Ahmed Salah, one of the co-founders of the April 6th movement, later recounted how they mobilized protesters:

Starting in the alleys was not a random decision. It makes tactical and strategic sense regardless of the technology used to coordinate this. Starting small and away from the main protests is a safe way to pool protesters together. It’s also about creating an iterative approach to a “strength in numbers” dynamic. As more people crowd the smaller the streets, this gives a sense of momentum and confidence. Starting in alley ways localizes the initiative. People are likely neighbors and join because they see their friend or sister out in the street. This tactic figured as a drawing in the 26-page guide:

The guide also stressed the need to remain peaceful and not engage in sabotage. The discipline of remaining non-violent is instrumental in civil resistance. Engaging in violence provides government forces with the excuse they’re looking for to clamp down on protesters and delegitimize them in a public way. The guide also recommends that activists try to win over the police and army instead of attacking them. The protesters behind this guide were clearly well trained and knew what they were doing. They even provided several Google Earth screen shots of different parts of the city to recommend tactical moves:

See my blog post on Maps, Activism and Technology: Check-in’s with a Purpose for more on the above picture.
Activists thus took deliberate and informed actions and used technology to synchronize those actions. How did the popular movement become this sophisticated? Young Egyptians had lots of practice. From the Kefeya movement of 2004, the elections of 2005 (and 2010), the April 6 movement of 2008 and the Khaled Said campaign of 2010. They learned from each confrontation and adapted their tactics and strategies accordingly. They reached out to others such as Otpor in Serbia for training and guidance. The Serbs met with Egyptian groups and ”shared their own hard-won experience, as well as fundamental lessons of popular nonviolent resistance,” according to this article in The Atlantic. And they took inspiration from the writings of Gene Sharp.