Dick Morris: Mubarak, Obama Should Be “Aggressively Confronting” Egyptian Protesters

Dick Morris said a very strange thing on The O'Reilly Factor on Wednesday:

MORRIS: I think that what Mubarak should be doing and what the Obama administration should be doing is aggressively confronting the demonstrators. I think that if we encourage the military to stand down, if we encourage the Mubarak supporters to refrain from controversy or even from violence, we really are opening the door to Islamic fundamentalist domination.

So, Morris thinks that if we “encourage the Mubarak supporters” to refrain “from violence,” we are “opening the door to Islamic fundamentalist domination.” And in fact, Mubarak and the U.S. should be “aggressively confronting” the anti-Mubarak protesters.

Is Morris suggesting that violence should be used to stop the anti-Mubarak protesters (which is what now seems to be happening)? We'll let you decide.

Morris' subsequent comments didn't do much to clarify: “If Obama's so concerned about this,” Morris said, “where was he when they were doing the same stuff in Iran? In Iran, he didn't lift a finger, and there were these massive street demonstrations. What, does he only oppose America's allies and not our enemies?”

During his appearance, Morris also declared that President Obama “broke Egypt, and he now owns it.” Morris wasn't sure why, though. Was it Obama's “failure to really condemn” radical Islam? Was it Obama's alleged failure to “name terrorism as Islamic terrorism”? Was it Obama's “appeasement”? Or was it Obama's “outright efforts to encourage people to destabilize the Mubarak regime” (a claim that Morris offered no evidence for whatsoever)?

Unclear.

Morris went on to say he thinks that “it's an illusion to say that there's a secular liberal democratic faction that can be dominant in Egypt. I think that's a mirage and a camouflage being used -- a front man being used by the Muslim Brotherhood so that they can take power and essentially create an Egyptian-Iranian alliance that will control 45 percent of the population of North Africa and the Middle East in those two countries.”

An alliance between Egyptian-Iranian alliance. OK, then.

Between stuff like this and Glenn Beck's fever dreams, it's clear you're better off looking for analysis of the situation in Egypt someplace other than Fox News.

Full transcript of the exchange between Morris and guest host Laura Ingraham:

INGRAHAM: Now, Dick, some conservatives out there -- Bob Kagan and even Bill Kristol -- are saying, “It's not fair to jump on the president here. This a fluid situation. They're trying to get a handle on it. They're trying to have the right thing done in Egypt. So, just hold off on criticizing.” What do you say?

MORRIS: Well, if you hold off on criticizing, you could find yourself with a second Iran. You know, Colin Powell said it best about Iraq. He said, “If you break it, you own it.” And, clearly, President Obama -- whether it's because of his words about radical Islam, his failure to really condemn it, his failure to name terrorism as Islamic terrorism, and his appeasement, and very possibly his outright efforts to encourage people to destabilize the Mubarak regime -- broke Egypt, and he now owns it.

And if that government falls, and if it is replaced by a Muslim Brotherhood organization, which is closely linked with Hamas, the question that's going to haunt American politics in 2010 will be just like '52, 1952. The question was, “Who lost China?” Now it's going to be, “Who lost Egypt?”

INGRAHAM: I think the question is, what next, right? I mean, people want reform. They want him out. The question is, “What fills that vacuum,” and are we sufficiently, Dick, engaged on the ground? Have we been engaged on the ground with credible secular leaders?

You know, we think of the analogy that's not all that perfect to Poland and the Reagan administration's, you know, nurturing of a true freedom movement in Eastern Europe, that that was done, and it was done over a period of years. But, you know, there are some signs that a lot of -- you know, a lot of people saying this administration's kind of bored by foreign policy, and it wasn't engaged with those secular possibilities on the ground in Egypt early enough.

MORRIS: I think it's an illusion to say that there's a secular liberal democratic faction that can be dominant in Egypt. I think that's a mirage and a camouflage being used -- a front man being used by the Muslim Brotherhood so that they can take power and essentially create an Egyptian-Iranian alliance that will control 45 percent of the population of North Africa and the Middle East in those two countries.

And I think that what Mubarak should be doing and what the Obama administration should be doing is aggressively confronting the demonstrators. I think that if we encourage the military to stand down, if we encourage the Mubarak supporters to refrain from controversy or even from violence, we really are opening the door to Islamic fundamentalist domination.

If Obama's so concerned about this, where was he when they were doing the same stuff in Iran? In Iran, he didn't lift a finger, and there were these massive street demonstrations. What, does he only oppose America's allies and not our enemies?

INGRAHAM: Well, seems like they have been pretty good at giving hell to our friends and criticizing them quickly, but the people who actually do not have America's best interests in heart, and actually want to destroy and kill our enemies, it's, you know, giving them every benefit of the doubt.

And that's where I think this whole thing breaks down. I mean, there's this utopian idea that, “Oh, this is all going to turn out, and the people are going to reach their aspirations,” as President Obama said last night. But it's -- look at these pictures that we're seeing. Is this the people reaching their aspirations?

MORRIS: And also, let's remember that we are more -- we're a dominant influence with the Egyptian military. We give them $1.3 billion of military aid a year. Total budget of Egypt is 46 billion. So, a huge portion of the army money comes from us. And when we tell the army, “Cool it. Don't go after them, don't be aggressive, back off, let this happen,” we're exercising a dominant influence over what's happening there, which we are going to live to regret.