Some American theorists act as a scourge in the hands of the US Administration, to be wielded against countries of whose policies the American government does not approve. A blatant example of this is the article written by Elliot Abrams, a Middle East expert with the US's Council On Foreign Relations entitled 'Terrorism in Egypt'. After conceding that the terrorist attacks suffered by Egypt are linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS, Abrams incites the US Administration to take punitive measures against Egypt on the premise that its government violates human rights. Abrams claims that the draft law to combat terrorist entities issued by the Egyptian government will ultimately be used against the Egyptian opposition and,what he terms 'dissidents'. The draft law to combat terrorist entities was approved by the State Council this week and will be submitted to the Presidency and Cabinet for review. It stipulates the confrontation of terrorism within the framework of Egyptian laws as well as the Constitution which safeguards human rights. Its implementation like all laws, is open to judicial appeal by claimants. The draft law will become effective from the date of its ratification, and will not be implemented on cases that occurred prior to its issuance. Its first article states that"any society, organization, group or gang that jeopardizes public order, places society's peace and well-being in danger, hurts individuals or terrorizes them, or puts their lives, freedom or rights in jeopardy will be considered a terrorist entity. (This also applies to groups that) inflict harm on the environment and on historic monuments and communications, or which threaten land and air communications." Despite the law having been issued according to sound legal principles, Abrams urges the US government to undertake punitive measures against the Egyptian government, by very virtue of the fact that it is endeavoring to combat terrorism through legislation. This is done by a researcher with a think-tank closely affiliated to US decision-making circles, wielding the scourge of protecting human rights in Egypt, at the very moment that America suffers repeated discriminatory violations of the rights of its ‘non-white' citizens (witness Ferguson). In this respect I would like to recall a number of laws and legislations ratified in the US to combat terrorism. These had invoked strong reactions for their violation of the basic rights and privacy if US citizens. Post-September 11, 2011, the US government issued a number of laws including the Patriot Act formulated by the Administration under former president George W.Bush. A department for homeland security was established. The laws allowed the surveillance of phone calls and emails while minimizing the judicial prerequisites permitting the authorities to undertake such procedures. America's anti-terrorist laws resulted in placing many US citizens under suspicion, and promoted discriminatory practices against citizens of Arab or southeast Asian origins as well as Muslims and Sikhs. The anti- terrorism law in the US subjected voice mails to Law No U.S.c 270318, while also minimizing the legal prerequisites needed to approve such procedures. The laws' wide jurisdiction covered attacks with biochemical weapons and electronic fraud, as well as money laundering and crimes involving voice, wireless and electronic communication. The battle was waged on all of these fronts by means of legislation. Given the US's record in formulating anti-terrorism laws, Mr.Abrams aversion to an Egyptian law for fighting terrorism seems paradoxical . He would have to point out to us which tenets of the Egyptian draft anti-terrorism law he specifically sees as violating citizens' basic rights. If his rejection of such a law is out of concern that it will brand the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, then in this regards there are several cases of violence that Egyptian authorities - based on evidence- deem were induced by the Muslim Brotherhood. Had such acts taken place in America they would have instigated nothing less than a strong reprisal by the US government. Assaults in Egypt included attacks on public institutions, planting bombs with the aim of terrorizing civilians, and joining the ranks of organizations linked to Al Qaeda and ISIS. The new Egyptian anti-terrorist entities law complies, moreover, with the UN's definition of terrorism delineated in many of its resolutions. Amongst these is the Appendix to Declaration 1984 related to curtailing international terrorism, issued on December 17 1996.(Document no 52/210). This is in addition to the 1963 Tokyo Agreement on assaults and other acts committed on board of aeroplanes, as well as the international agreement related to terrorist explosions that wad ratified by General Assembly Resolution No.54/109 on 9 December 1999. Abrams' article published on the Council for Foreign Relations website raises questions regarding 'experts' on Egypt who seem to play a role similar to that of British orientalists and 'Arabists' of the colonial era. US think-tanks work in a close symbiotic relationship with the CIA and other intelligence bodies. The process pours ultimately into the office of the president's national security adviser. Visions thus formulated are reviewed by the US president with the aim of forging America's policy in the Middle East. The irony is that so many of US think-tank theorist and intelligence recommendations have proven to be a drastic failure in the past two decades. Afghanistan and Iraq were destroyed. The victims of the US invasion's and bombings of Iraq numbered over one million. It was an invasion that did not lead to discovering the WMD that G.W Bush Jr. had claimed existed in Iraq. Nor did it spread democracy as Bush prophesied. American policy and its recommendations on the Arab world continue to spread chaos and promote the disintegration of age-old civilizations and politically pivotal countries of the Middle East, such as Iraq and Syria with Libya battling the throes of a similar fate. The picture makes sense if one recalls that chaos remains the US's purported vision for the new Middle East, as expressed by the US President's former National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice.
