Tribute should be paid to the Egyptian army for its great win in one of the hardest and longest battles in Egypt's modern history. Democracy-not land-was the reward of the extraordinary war, which broke out on February 11, 2011, when the dictatorial regime of president Hosni Mubark was removed from power. History is preparing its new annals to record that on June 30, 2012, the Egyptians ‘lined up to bid farewell and cheer their army heroes' on their way back to the barracks after ‘a freely elected President was sworn in'. History will also vividly remember that the Supreme Council of Armed Forces led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi steered the nation safely to the shores of democracy after battling many violent waves and storms. About 150, 000 army troops were deployed on May 23 and 24 to protect millions of Egyptian people, who went to the polling stations to elect the first post-revolution President. International monitors, NGOs and foreign diplomats praised the nation's army, judiciary and voters for their great roles in the Battle for Democracy. Egypt's judges, who successfully supervised the first fair and transparent presidential election, also deserve a prominent place and acknowledgement in the history books. Two out of 13 candidates, who vied for the Presidency, will take part in the runoff likely to take place on June 16 and 17. The fair elections produced two final candidates, Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq, both from widely different camps. Shafiq was the last Prime Minister of the Mubarak regime, which launched a relentless hunt on fundamentalist organisations like the Muslim Brotherhood in the past 30 years. Morsi belongs to Mubarak's victims. The Egyptian army's Battle of Democracy lasted 15 months. It fought a bloodless war against elements that intended to throw the nation into the abyss of anarchy and violence. Compared to the October war with Israel in 1973, the Battle of Democracy that started on February 11 last year was harder and longer. On the one hand, the October war was mainly planned to liberate a part of the motherland, Sinai, from Israeli occupation. The war was also launched to put an end to the Israeli myth that its army was invincible. The winner of the October war was declared only weeks after the Egyptian army stormed the Bar Lev defence line on the Suez Canal and rushed eastwards. The October war was waged against a ‘visible' enemy, which, like Egypt, observes international rules and restrictions of large-scale wars, human rights of prisoners and civilians and the limits of ‘destruction' of cities and towns. On the other hand, the Battle of Democracy in Egypt was launched to defend the entire country-not just a part of it-from an ‘invisible' enemy. Aided and abetted by different masterminds abroad, the invisible enemies feigning love for democracy worked hard to tear the nation apart and create a fragmented Egypt. Preliminary investigations revealed that US-funded NGOs and human rights groups were these masterminds. One of the absurdities produced by the Battle of Democracy in Egypt is that the ‘enemy' raised the banner of Democracy and simultaneously beat the drums of war just hours after Mubarak was toppled. Using Democracy as a Trojan Horse, the enemy directed its guns at the army to undermine the nation's only backbone-after the collapse of the regime, the police and the state security authorities. Aware of the manoeuvres testing their patience and resolve, the army generals encouraged their men to ignore insults and abusive campaigns to leave the capital and other towns so they would be defenceless.
