More than ever, Egyptians are now divided over everything. They are divided on being pro-Sisi, pro-Morsi or pro-neither. They are divided on the “coup vs. revolution” debate, on the usage of force against sit-ins, on how the political process should move forward, on who really to blame for the violence and bloodshed in the country. The list goes on. But one thing they are all united on: US Ambassador Anne Patterson must leave, and American “interference” in Egypt has had a negative impact.
In fact, even the suggested new ambassador, former Syria envoy Robert Ford, is already the subject of a mounting popular rejection campaign, being seen as “the man who divided Syria and created the Free Syrian Army to destroy the country,” as a common refrain goes. Those behind the campaign think either Ford is being sent to Egypt to turn it into another Syria, or that he’s just not the right man for the job. Other than Patterson, everyone hates Obama as well. There’s even a new, and quite peculiar song, about that.
Many in the opposition have often made a point of using varyingly harsh rhetoric regarding the United States, whether it was the Islamists during the Mubarak era or the secularists under Mohammed Morsi. A number of independent secularist figures, as well as members of the National Salvation Front (NSF), the liberal and leftist alliance, publicly shunned meeting with US representatives. They increasingly spoke of the Brotherhood as “allies in close contact with the US” as if that were an insult by definition, and brandished such actions as signs of patriotism and nationalism. Over time, it became normal for a political figure or group to be negatively branded or accused of having “met with Anne Patterson,” as a self-evident crime, as if political groups and figures are not expected to meet with ambassadors, let alone the ambassador of the only superpower remaining in the world.
Research and polls have shown a steady decline in favorable attitudes in Egypt toward the US. In 2008, George W. Bush’s last year as president, a Pew poll showed that only 22% of Egyptians had a favorable view of the US, down from 30% in 2006. The number slightly grew to 27% after Obama took office, only to decline in early 2013 to 16%. Confidence in Obama dropped from 42% in 2009 to 26% in early 2013, with 72% having no confidence in the American president.
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