Egyptian military cannot buy democracy with people’s blood

The crisis in Egypt is spiraling into chaos, as the Egyptian military violently cracked down on anti-government protests. Although Cairo’s official statistics say that at least 638 protesters were killed, Muslim Brotherhood, which leads the protests, claims 2,600 deaths. The casualty reaches 10,000, including the injured. The crackdown can be called a massacre. It is a crime against humanity for the military to fire at protesters just because they have different political inclinations.

The tragedy in Egypt shows that a pro-democracy revolution does not herald democracy. After the Arab Spring expelled former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, ousted president Mohammed Morsi, who was elected president by support of Muslim Brotherhood, disappointed Egyptians by implementing a dictatorial rule against the hope of a majority of Egyptians who wanted liberty, opening, economic restoration and jobs.

Egyptians then took to the streets for anti-government protests. The military, which was seeking to restore its political influence, took power by pretending to stand on the side of citizens. Despite the dictatorship of Morsi, the military’s involvement in ousting a democratically elected president left a major stain on democracy, which attaches great importance to due procedures.

The situation is now too serious to be called internal affairs. The United Nations Security Council, which has the greatest authority in keeping international peace and security, should adopt a resolution that would halt the bloodshed in Egypt.

The United States, which has the greatest influence on Egypt in the international community, should reflect on its attitude to see if it failed to prevent the worst-case scenario from happening. As the situation spun out of control, Washington canceled joint military exercises with Egypt and announced it would review its 1.3 billion U.S. dollars in military aid to Egypt. However, the moves were belated. U.S. Congress and media are also criticizing U.S. President Barack Obama’s diplomatic team for its weak response to the crisis in Egypt. Obama also came under criticism for heading directly to a golf course after making an announcement on the situation in Egypt.

There is no better way to change governments but through fair and free elections. People cannot seek to change their leader by taking to the streets and hold violent demonstrations every time they do not like the incumbent. Egypt should hold a free election that would include political opponents to form a legitimate government at least in order to address the international community’s concerns that the North African country would return to military rule.