Suleiman: The CIA's man in Cairo

[Octafish]

Here's background on a guy who knows why they hate us.

Suleiman: The CIA's man in Cairo

Suleiman, a friend to the US and reported torturer, has long been touted as a presidential successor.

by Lisa Hajjar
AlJazeera.net
Last Modified: 07 Feb 2011 14:10 GMT

On January 29, Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s top spy chief, was anointed vice president by tottering dictator, Hosni Mubarak. By appointing Suleiman, part of a shake-up of the cabinet in an attempt to appease the masses of protesters and retain his own grip on the presidency, Mubarak has once again shown his knack for devilish shrewdness. Suleiman has long been favoured by the US government for his ardent anti-Islamism, his willingness to talk and act tough on Iran - and he has long been the CIA’s main man in Cairo.

Mubarak knew that Suleiman would command an instant lobby of supporters at Langley and among 'Iran nexters' in Washington - not to mention among other authoritarian mukhabarat-dependent regimes in the region. Suleiman is a favourite of Israel too; he held the Israel dossier and directed Egypt’s efforts to crush Hamas by demolishing the tunnels that have functioned as a smuggling conduit for both weapons and foodstuffs into Gaza.

According to a WikiLeak(ed) US diplomatic cable, titled 'Presidential Succession in Egypt', dated May 14, 2007:

"Egyptian intelligence chief and Mubarak consigliere, in past years Soliman was often cited as likely to be named to the long-vacant vice-presidential post. In the past two years, Soliman has stepped out of the shadows, and allowed himself to be photographed, and his meetings with foreign leaders reported. Many of our contacts believe that Soliman, because of his military background, would at least have to figure in any succession scenario."

From 1993 until Saturday, Suleiman was chief of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service. He remained largely in the shadows until 2001, when he started taking over powerful dossiers in the foreign ministry; he has since become a public figure, as the WikiLeak document attests. In 2009, he was touted by the London Telegraph and Foreign Policy as the most powerful spook in the region, topping even the head of Mossad.

CONTINUED...

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/201127114827382865.html

Interesting perspective, the professor's -- one we are not hearing on ABCNNBCBSFixedNutNoiseworks or most anywhere in Corporate McPravda.

[spanone]

1. k&r ....

[Octafish]

11. Suleiman helped build the case for WMDs in Iraq -- through torture.

The guy knows how to get just the information certain warmongers needed, post-September 11.

Deputy Omar Suleiman known for his brutality and CIA links

The Australian
February 02, 2011 12:00AM

EXCERPT..

In the run-up to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the CIA relied on Mr Suleiman to accept the transfer of a detainee known as Ibn Sheikh al-Libi, who US officials hoped could prove a link between Iraq's Saddam Hussein and al-Qa'ida.

The suspect was bound and blindfolded and flown to Cairo, where he was locked in a cage for hours and beaten, according to The One Percent Doctrine by Ron Suskind, until he told his interrogators that the Iraqi regime was moving to provide terrorist group al-Qa'ida with biological and chemical weapons.

When then US secretary of state Colin Powell made the case for war before the UN, he referred to details of Libi's confession.

The detainee eventually recanted his account.

CONTINUED...

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/deputy-omar-suleiman-known-for-his-brutality-and-cia-links/story-e6frg6so-1225998362607

And that's how the Empire connects the dots.

[polly7]

2. Does it ever end? I am so sick of seeing these brutal monsters

supported and unleashed on millions who have no say. I can't even begin to imagine how them must feel themselves.

[Octafish]

12. Hey Obama, Read WikiLeaks!

Me too, polly7. What the powers do overseas, sooner or later, they apply at home.

Hey Obama, Read WikiLeaks

Posted on Feb 8, 2011
By Robert Scheer
TruthDig.com

After a good start, the Obama administration’s response to the democratic revolution in Egypt has begun to exude the odor of betrayal. Now distancing itself from the essential demand of the protesters that the dictator must go, the administration has fallen back on the sordid option of backing a new and improved dictatorship. Predictably, it is one guided by a local strongman long entrusted by the CIA, Vice President Omar Suleiman, described by U.S. officials in the WikiLeaks cables as a “Mubarak consigliere.” The script is out of an all-too-familiar playbook: Pick this longtime chief of Egyptian intelligence who has consistently done our bidding in matters of torture and retrofit him as a modern democratic leader. But this time the Egyptian street will not meekly go along.

The first test was on Tuesday, after the weekend theatrics of Suleiman making a show of meeting with the opposition but rejecting its demands. A huge crowd—inspired by a most modern protest figure, a Google executive—showed up to reject defeat as a compromise. Defeat, because under Suleiman’s plan all of the levers of oppressive power would remain, including Hosni Mubarak as president and a state of emergency denying fundamental freedoms that dates back four decades. Conning the masses with fears of a foreign enemy is a political art form in Egypt going back to the pharaohs, but this time, perhaps thanks to new empowering technology, or just too much suffering, it is not working.

The scenes of the demonstrators in recent weeks have in some ways been reminiscent of those I witnessed in Cairo back in 1967, but their significance is exactly the opposite. Back then, when huge crowds took to the streets their anger got perversely twisted by nationalist rage into the demand that Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had presided over a humiliating defeat in the Six-Day War, not make good on his threat to resign. The failure of the Egyptian street to hold Nasser accountable for the stark failures of his dictatorship ushered in a 44-year reign of tyranny, corruption and stagnation at the heart of the Arab world.

Mubarak is the final inheritor of that era, the heir to the military rebels who toppled King Farouk and, instead of implementing a too-long-promised enlightened view of pan-Arab nationalism, turned vile bureaucratic corruption into an Egyptian way of life. A corruption that the U.S., Israel and the oil-rich Arab monarchies found very much to their liking. That attitude continues, as The New York Times reported on Tuesday: “Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have each repeatedly pressed the United States not to cut loose Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, too hastily, or to throw its weight behind the democracy movement. …” Once again, as in 1967, the argument is being made that the secular military dictatorship in Egypt is needed to combat radical Islam, as represented by the Muslim Brotherhood, and that democracy might be “hijacked,” as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned.

CONTINUED...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/hey_obama_read_wikileaks_20110209/

Foreign policy, as currently applied by the United States of America, is most undemocratic.

[Vinnie From Indy]

3. One wonders how many "detainees" saw this man's face just before being waterboarded

or shot.

[Octafish]

18. The guy got ID'd when he slapped a guy so hard, the man's blindfold slipped off.

Now, THAT's a slap.

[hulka38]

4. The White House must be so relieved

that Mubarak will likely hold on and pass the power to Suleiman.

[Octafish]

20. At least the Truth is on the side of the People.

And that may yet give the Empire pause.

From a good doctor who also is a good writer:

Power to the people of historic Egypt

By Dr. Ashraf Ezzat
Guest Writer
Online Journal
Feb 9, 2011, 00:14

Whenever Egypt is mentioned, the great pyramids are likely to be referred to in the discourse. The pyramids of Khufu, Khefre and Menkaure stand witness to the power and splendor of the ancient Egyptian old kingdom (2686-2181BC), but what a lot of people are not aware of is the fact that the fall of this once mighty kingdom had been due to a relentless political turmoil during which ancient Egyptians protested over social and economic grievances in what most Egyptologists now view as one of the first political upheavals in history.

The eclipse of the royal power came shortly after the reign of King Pepy II (Neferkare) who ruled for over 90 years, but his long reign was not the reason behind the collapse of the old kingdom but rather his policy that lacked compassion and care for the dispossessed and those in need.

Egypt goes back in history thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians didn’t only build enduring wonders like the obelisks and temples but they also established a lingering centralized government with the king dominating and ruling like God over a highly organized society.

That political system was perfect and appropriate for those times in the remote past but not today. As a matter of fact when the centralized and strong government of ancient Egypt was fully engaged in the megaprojects of building the pyramids societies around the world were still struggling out of their prehistoric ages.

SNIP...

It took Egyptians almost 60 years to figure out that the national leaders of the republic who followed the ousting of the Egyptian monarchy and the British mandate had not been any different, if not worse.

CONTINUED...

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_6899.shtml

Corporate McPravda ignores this story, too. Wonder why that is?

[jefferson_dem]

5. Meh...

Is this supposed to piss us off? Actually, I rather like this part: "ardent anti-Islamism, his willingness to talk and act tough on Iran..." Perhaps some would prefer a Mahmoud type?

[Billy Burnett]

6. Perhaps some prefer what the majority of the people choose.

Would that be wrong?

[jefferson_dem]

8. Quite the contrary.

Freedom and Democracy are beautiful things.

[TBF]

16. Freedom and democracy are beautiful - it would be wonderful if they were embraced

by the current administration, but alas, we have chosen to go with authoritarian torturers instead...

[hulka38]

9. The facade of the U.S. credibility

on matters of liberty and democracy in the ME is crumbling. The Egyptian people know what's going on. The more we sit on them with our abusive autocrats, the more radical and anti-American they will become. These policies will make it more likely we will get a Mahmoud type.

[Oilwellian]

14. How is Suleiman more civilized than Iran & islamic extremists?

Do you also like "torturer" attached to Suleiman's name? Doesn't the mere fact that he does torture, it makes him a pariah in civilized society just as much as any islamic extremist? Or are you saying torture is just fine and dandy? Guess what? It's not all about what YOU like.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. They hate us for our henchmen....with good reason.

[malaise]

10. K & R

for truth

[Oilwellian]

13. Thank you for posting

People need to know how fucked up our foreign policy is. K&R

[Overseas]

15. K&R ! //nt

[TBF]

17. K&R nt

[Ichingcarpenter]

19. This guy is nasty and

may well be worse than Saddam if he comes into power.

The TV media an't talking about him so he must have
the 'stamp of approval'

[bobthedrummer]

21. ^

[Hubert Flottz]

22. The people in the streets didn't buy it...

They wanted better, not worse!