Bush program helped lay the groundwork in Egypt
By Farah Stockman Globe Staff / February 13, 2011 Boston Globe EXCERPT:
WASHINGTON A small, controversial effort launched under President George W. Bush to fund and train election monitors in Egypt played a key role in the movement to topple President Hosni Mubaraks regime.
The program, which provided millions in direct funding to prodemocracy groups, helped dispatch 13,000 volunteers to observe Egypts parliamentary elections in December. Thousands of those monitors, angered by what they said was blatant election rigging, joined the protests. Some became outspoken leaders; others used the networking and communication skills they learned to help coordinate 18 days of rallies.
The very fact that they saw the fraud firsthand has contributed to them turning from monitors into activists, said Saad Eddin Ibrahim, founder of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, which has used a share of the US funds to train volunteers. They became very disillusioned with the regime.
The evolving role of the monitors provides a measure of vindication for Bush administration officials and allies, including Elizabeth Cheney, the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, who fought for permission to funnel money to the monitors, bucking a longstanding US policy of giving Egypt a veto over US funds.
I certainly feel vindicated, said Charles King Mallory IV, a former aide to Elizabeth Cheney, who could not be reached for comment.
But it also raises questions about whether some Egyptians will see a grain of truth in Mubaraks allegations that foreign intervention fomented the uprising.
Stephen McInerney, executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy, a Washington-based advocacy and research group, said the protesters would probably still have been active without US support, but they wouldnt be as well-organized.
We didnt fund them to start protests, but we did help support their development of skills and networking, he said.
Mahmoud Ali Mohamed, head of the Egyptian Association for Supporting Democracy, the largest election monitoring organization in Egypt, said his monitors were dispatched to Tahrir Square on the first day of the protests to document attacks on demonstrators.
As the protests grew, he opened an operations room from which 320 volunteers took tips from the public about abuses by progovernment forces, and he wrote press releases publicizing attacks and arrests. Now his group is considering launching lawsuits against those who killed or hurt protesters.
By Farah Stockman Globe Staff / February 13, 2011 Boston Globe EXCERPT:
WASHINGTON A small, controversial effort launched under President George W. Bush to fund and train election monitors in Egypt played a key role in the movement to topple President Hosni Mubaraks regime.
The program, which provided millions in direct funding to prodemocracy groups, helped dispatch 13,000 volunteers to observe Egypts parliamentary elections in December. Thousands of those monitors, angered by what they said was blatant election rigging, joined the protests. Some became outspoken leaders; others used the networking and communication skills they learned to help coordinate 18 days of rallies.
The very fact that they saw the fraud firsthand has contributed to them turning from monitors into activists, said Saad Eddin Ibrahim, founder of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, which has used a share of the US funds to train volunteers. They became very disillusioned with the regime.
The evolving role of the monitors provides a measure of vindication for Bush administration officials and allies, including Elizabeth Cheney, the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, who fought for permission to funnel money to the monitors, bucking a longstanding US policy of giving Egypt a veto over US funds.
I certainly feel vindicated, said Charles King Mallory IV, a former aide to Elizabeth Cheney, who could not be reached for comment.
But it also raises questions about whether some Egyptians will see a grain of truth in Mubaraks allegations that foreign intervention fomented the uprising.
Stephen McInerney, executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy, a Washington-based advocacy and research group, said the protesters would probably still have been active without US support, but they wouldnt be as well-organized.
We didnt fund them to start protests, but we did help support their development of skills and networking, he said.
Mahmoud Ali Mohamed, head of the Egyptian Association for Supporting Democracy, the largest election monitoring organization in Egypt, said his monitors were dispatched to Tahrir Square on the first day of the protests to document attacks on demonstrators.
As the protests grew, he opened an operations room from which 320 volunteers took tips from the public about abuses by progovernment forces, and he wrote press releases publicizing attacks and arrests. Now his group is considering launching lawsuits against those who killed or hurt protesters.
