Gov. Palin's caution over embracing the 'New Egypt' is justified

"We should not stand for that, or with that, or by that"
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While the left accuses Sarah Palin of not being "ready for prime time" because of her remarks about Egypt, the early signs of what a post-Mubarak society in that land may look like indicate that the caution she expressed about whether the U.S. should embrace the Egyptian revolution is justified.

In an interview with CBN's David Brody, Gov. Palin warned that we should not put America's stamp of approval on the "New Egypt" until we know who's going to fill the void:

"Is it going to be the Muslim Brotherhood? We should not stand for that, or with that, or by that. Any radical Islamists. No, that is not who we should be supporting and standing by … we need to find out who was behind all of the turmoil and the revolt and the protests so that good decisions can be made in terms of who we will stand by and support.”

Aaron Goldstein comments on the makeup of the committee the Egyptian military has appointed to draw up the country's new constitution:

While the panel includes a member of the Muslim Brotherhood there are scarcely any Coptic Christians on the committee while women have been left off the committee altogether.

The exclusion of Coptic Christians is particularly galling when one considers the New Year's Massacre of Copts in Alexandria which resulted in the deaths of 21 people. It seems the Egyptian military and the Muslim Brotherhood are determined to keep Coptic Christians even more marginalized in a post-Mubarak Egypt.

As to the exclusion of women, one must wonder if the Muslim Brotherhood would have participated in the committee had a woman been named to it.

The panel will work quickly, as it is expected to have the new constitution finished in just ten days time. The Egyptian people are scheduled to vote on it in two months.

While the left is correct in asserting that the U.S. should not expect the Egyptian idea of "democracy" to look like our own, it is missing Gov. Palin's larger point: Egyptians should exercise their right of self-determination, but the U.S. should not be obligated to endorse it, especially if the process involves giving radical Islamists a seat at the table which excluding women and the the country's principal religious minority.

The left, which has long claimed to be in the vanguard of fighting for women's rights, always seems to take the side of militant Islamists when it comes down to those radicals subjugating their women. Our leftists have been meekly silent about the treatment of women in Muslim culture, a status which is less elevated that that of horses and camels. Moreover, recent omens from elements of Egypt's revolutionaries regarding women and Israel are disturbing at the very least.

Sarah Palin was right to warn that we should be wary of throwing our support behind the the Egyptian revolutionaries until we are assured of who they are and how they will govern. The first signals the Egyptians are sending with the panel which will write its new constitution are not positive ones in any way, shape or form. Once again, Gov. Palin has proven that hers is the prudent view, while her critics on the left show themselves to be all too willing and eager to embrace all that the United States should stand against.

-JP