Egypt: enter religion

Though the Middle East's many woes are chiefly political and economic in nature, religion commonly becomes a feature. Its entrance into the picture can now be watched in Egypt in real time: The military is now using Islamic scholars to cast the ongoing crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood - on virtually any dissent, for that matter - as a religious obligation and expression of Islamic devotion. One is reminded of the Cold War inducement to "kill a commie for mommy." Different context, same thinking.

Cause for hope is that this measure of sending in the clerics to initiate what one source in the article below calls "fatwa wars," indicates fear on the part of the military and its puppet government. As stated in the piece:

Political scientists say that worries about insubordination are understandable, because the ranks of both the army and the riot police are made up mainly of hundreds of thousands of conscripts drafted into mandatory military service. More than 1,100 civilians have been killed in the crackdown since Aug. 14, and many of the conscripts are likely to have lost a cousin or relative, or heard stories of the carnage. 

As the screws gets tightened on Egypt, it is possible that the people - Morsi supporters and detractors alike - might find common cause, in which case Egypt can then do 2011 over again.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/world/middleeast/egypt.html