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and the support for SCAF is related to that.” SCAF is the Supreme
Council of the Armed Forces, Egypt’s ruling military council.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton underscored the shift in a
speech last week that her aides later said was a deliberate warning to
the military council, which assumed power after President Hosni
Mubarak’s ouster. The military had initially pledged to hand over
control to civilians by September, but it now says that a presidential
election will not occur before 2013. And last week it laid out a
blueprint for the next constitution, giving the military special political
powers and protection from civilian oversight into perpetuity.
“If, over time, the most powerful political force in Egypt remains a
roomful of unelected officials, they will have planted the seeds for
future unrest, and Egyptians will have missed a historic opportunity,”
Mrs. Clinton warned.
“When unelected authorities say they want to be out of the business
of governing,” the United States expects them “to lay out a clear road
map” and “abide by it,” she added.
Given Washington’s long support for Mr. Mubarak, and Mrs.
Clinton’s comment last month approving of the military’s extended
timetable for electing a civilian president, there was suspicion over
Washington’s intentions. The shift occurred at the same time as a
broader effort by the Obama administration to counter anti-American
sentiment and reach out to opposition leaders across the political
spectrum.
The United States “wants to have the cake and eat it, too,” said Nabil
Fahmy, a former Egyptian ambassador to Washington, arguing that
the United States wants to promote democracy without dealing with
the pressure it would put on American interests in the region.
The military’s attempts to protect its power and privileges
indefinitely have created an awkward situation for Washington. The
United States, through the Pentagon in particular, has long nurtured

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