Heritage Foundation’s Michael Franc Labels U.S. Administration’s Response to Egyptian Unrest as Timidity Based on Shame
Kicking off his nationally syndicated “Neal Asbury’s Truth for America Show” on WZAB-AM, Neal Asbury opened the show by conveying his deep concern over the rioting taking place in Egypt. He described the events as a true indication of the will of the Egyptian people and their desire to overcome 30 years of oppression under President Hosni Mubarak.
“Who could not be torn apart by the images in Cairo? But more importantly, where is the U.S. leadership? We’ve been pumping billions and billions of dollars into Egypt for 30 years and yet this administration can exert no influence on Mubarak and his administration. Principled leadership by the U.S. is nowhere to be found,” said Asbury.
Asbury noted that the U.S. is making the same mistakes it did in Iran when it allowed a popular uprising to be usurped by an Islamic fundamentalist government. He predicted that this could happen again in Egypt if the Muslim Brotherhood seizes power.
“I saw this kind of thing happen when I lived in the Philippines during the People Power Revolution, but in that case the U.S. had the power to force Marcos to step down. When he knew that he lost the faith of the Reagan administration he knew it was time to go. We don’t have that kind of credibility today,” said Asbury.
He characterizes the happenings in Egypt as a “real tragedy that cries out for a principled American leadership.”
Returning to the show as a guest was Washington veteran Mike Franc, the Heritage Foundation’s vice president of government relations. Franc oversees the Heritage Foundation’s outreach to Capitol Hill and the White House. He leads a team that helps members of Congress understand and defend conservative principles in exercising their constitutional powers to approve budgets, make laws and oversee government operations.
“The crisis in Egypt throws a real curveball at the new Congress. They will have to grapple with the issue: What is the role of government? What is our image internationally? The repercussions from the Mideast reflect feebleness by the U.S. administration’s current apologetic policies,” said Franc. “The U.S. does not appear to have a policy for Egypt.”
Co-host Rich Roffman asked why the U.S. didn’t know what was going to happen in Egypt. “Where was the intelligence from the CIA? Where is the Secretary of State? The Obama administration doesn’t appear to have a clue. This is going to be a disaster for Obama. There is an ominous environment in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood is going to make a move,” said Roffman.
Franc agreed but opined that even if the U.S. knew what was going to happen, Obama would not act. He thinks that Obama is ashamed of America. In fact, he defined the Obama administration’s approach to foreign relations as “timidity based on shame.”
“A lot of people in the streets in Egypt have the best interests of the country at heart. But evil is lurking within society waiting to hijack the revolution. The Islamist movement is ready to take the revolution in the wrong direction,” said Franc.
Neal Asbury concurred and proposed that the way to prevent this is predicated on a powerful U.S. “If Egypt respected the U.S., someone close to Obama should be able to convince Mubarak to leave. But any regime change has to take place within a constitutional process if the peoples’ voices are to be heard,” he said.
Franc added that the institution of a Democracy doesn’t guarantee freedom. “Look what happened in the 1930s in Germany. Individual freedom did not result. The democratic change was not based on a set of laws. This same thing could happen in Egypt.”
Franc believes that the unrest in Egypt will provoke a nationwide discussion on America’s foreign policy. There will have to be a debate on Capitol Hill about America’s ability to exert our will on foreign policy. This will include our energy policies, according to Franc.
The discussion turned to the healthcare debate. The debate, according to Franc, will explore the limit of government to impose its will.
“The battle will be about whether we should have a limited government or unlimited government. The size and shape of the government will be front and center in the House debate. That means that the freshman class of new House members will have to take on important issues very quickly,” believes Franc.
As for the upcoming 2012 elections, there will be enormous pressure put on the 23 Democratic senators up for re-election, thought Franc. The test will be whether or not the Tea Party influence continues and how the Democrats respond to move toward a more conservative bi-partisan base.
“As the new Congress takes their seats, I think we’ll see a fair amount of spending cuts. I think we’ll also see how organized and how vocal the Tea Party is and if they will become further disenchanted with their elected officials. Elected officials will be looking for safe havens, and I think we’ll see Democrats making meaningful gestures to move farther right,” predicted Franc. He invited listeners to visit wwww.heritage.org for more information.