The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| A window into Egyptian general’s past in small American town Posted: 30 Aug 2013 09:20 PM PDT There is a picture of Sisi visiting a US Civil War battleground and another of his family taken at a Halloween party they attended, with his wife and daughter grinning next to a woman dressed like the Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra. The yearbook from the Class of 2006 is tucked away in the War College library in Carlisle. Its images offer a reminder that not that long ago, the army chief who now effectively rules Egypt spent an academic year on a military fellowship in the more peaceful surroundings of small-town America. In Carlisle, Sisi made an impression at the local mosque and at the college itself as a serious student whose writings reflected an awareness that ensuring democracy in the Middle East might be fraught with difficulties. Since the July 3 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, discussion of limited American influence on Egypt's military has focused on the $1.3 billion in military aid that the United States pours into the country. But advocates of international fellowship programs say that cultural ties forged in places like Carlisle are perhaps more important in building lasting relations between the United States and Egypt. Despite conflict with the Obama administration over his crackdown on supporters of Morsi, Sisi keeps in regular contact with Washington. He has held an astonishing 16 calls with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel since Morsi was toppled last month. "I'll bet this total immersion in the West that he had for the better part of a year... is contributing to the fact that communications lines are open," said Major General Anthony Cucolo, the War College's commandant. Sisi ignored warnings from Hagel and others before Morsi's ouster and, again rebuffing calls for restraint, sent in security forces on August 14 to smash protest camps set up by Morsi's supporters. At least 900 people, including 100 soldiers and police, have been killed in the past week in the crackdown on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, the bloodiest civil unrest in Egypt's modern history. "Our ability to influence the outcome in Egypt is limited," Hagel acknowledged. "All nations are limited in their influence in another nation's internal issues." On a dry-erase board in a War College seminar room, instructions like "No Rank" and "Keep an Open Mind" are scribbled in blue ink – part of an effort to promote open, informal dialogue among US officers and those from other countries. The college hosts nearly 80 international fellows each year, a number that has doubled since Sisi studied there. They come from nations such as Pakistan and India, as well as from traditional allies like Canada and Britain, to study with officers from across America's armed forces and civilians from the State Department and other US agencies. This year, Egypt sent one officer to the United States for language training before Morsi's ouster. But the number of Egyptian military personnel participating in all US exchanges through the International Military Education and Training Programme fell sharply to 22 from 53 from 2011 to 2012, according to State Department data. In 2006, Sisi appeared more reserved than many other fellows in class discussions, perhaps cautious by nature – or wary that his comments might come back to haunt him. "(It wasn't) because he didn't know what he thought. I think he was aware that everything you can say can be repeated," said Sherifa Zuhur, a former professor of Sisi's, who led a class on the Middle East. Faculty adviser Steve Gerras described him as "serious and quiet" – even at outside events, like when he attended a gathering to watch the Super Bowl at Gerras' home. Those who knew Sisi during his US fellowship describe someone who, at the height of Iraq's post-invasion civil war, deeply questioned perceived US assumptions about how democracy would unfold there. In comments foreshadowing the current crisis gripping Egypt, Sisi, in his research project, wrote that emerging democracies would likely have a stronger religious cast than in the West. "History has shown that in the first ten years of a new democracy, conflict is likely to occur either externally or internally as the new democracy matures," he wrote. "Simply changing the political systems from autocratic rule to democratic rule will not be enough to build a new democracy," he wrote. Some of Sisi's writings seem ironic today, given that he led the overthrow of an avowedly Islamist, but popularly elected, leader. Critics of Mursi's leadership say he failed to build an inclusive government and did not govern democratically. In his research, Sisi pointed to the 2006 Palestinian election victory of Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, and advocated that "legitimately elected parties be given the opportunity to govern." "The world cannot demand democracy in the Middle East, yet denounce what it looks like because a less than pro-Western party legitimately assumes office," he wrote. Sisi had requested that his research project not be publicly disclosed. But it has circulated widely, something that Cucolo, the college commandant, said he regretted. Sisi lived on a picturesque street in Carlisle's historic center with American flags draped from front porches. His former home, which has a porch swing and a hanging basket of flowers, is a short walk from a local college that Sisi's son attended, and a short drive from the mosque often frequented by Muslim fellows at the War College and their families. Sisi is warmly remembered there as a devout man who sometimes led prayers. "He used to pray with us. Now he is a big guy," said worshipper Abdul Majid Ayud. Carlisle wasn't Sisi's first experience in the United States. In 1981, he took an infantry basic training course at Fort Benning, Georgia. Frank Phillips, a retired US Army officer who befriended Sisi there, says Sisi served as an imam for the Muslim students on the course. "He was religious, but not fanatical," said Phillips, describing him as a "strong patriot." One day, Sisi accompanied the American to look for an engagement ring in Columbus, Georgia. When Phillips put the ring on layaway – a practice not generally known in Egypt – Sisi offered to help him pay for it so he could take it home right away. Phillips gently declined, but deeply appreciated the offer. "He's a solid guy," Phillips said. People who knew Sisi during his time in the United States generally declined to take a position on Egypt's political turmoil. But Phillips says he takes comfort in believing that Sisi will do what is right for Egypt, and likely weigh US views because of his experiences in America. "Is he more predisposed now to consider the US view of things? I'd say yes," Phillips said. Sisi's name is inscribed along with others from the Class of 2006 on a bronze-colored plaque that dominates a wall of Root Hall, the War College's main building. But the college's top honour still awaits him. Inside is a "Hall of Fame" with portraits of fellowship graduates who, like Sisi, went on to lead their respective militaries. General Tibor Benko, who became chief of the general staff of Hungary's armed forces, is the most recent inductee and, as such, his portrait is larger, positioned at the centre of dozens of others hailing from Germany, Italy and elsewhere. Although the ultimate decision on whether to include Sisi is up to the US ambassador to Egypt and senior Army officials, Cucolo said the slow process toward Sisi's induction would begin to advance. "He meets the criteria and I will be moving forward with the process at some point here," Cucolo said. "What's going on right now isn't affecting my opinion about that." - Reuters, August 31, 2013. |
| Gut, not gluttony makes ex-smokers gain weight Posted: 29 Aug 2013 06:52 PM PDT Studies have shown that quitting smoking leads to an average weight gain of four to five kilogrammes (nine to 11 pounds) in the first year. But according to researchers at Zurich University Hospital, former smokers who bulk up may not be eating more than before they kissed their cigarettes goodbye. Noting that even people who cut back on calorie intake after quitting smoking tend to gain weight, Professor Gerhard Rogler said he and his colleagues had discovered another potential explanation: a change in the composition of the intestinal flora among smokers who kick the habit. Their study, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and published in peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS One, found that when a person stops smoking, the diversity of bacterial strains in their intestines shifts. It more resembles the gut flora found in people with obesity. Both recent non-smokers and obese people tend to have more of two bacteria types, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, Rogler told AFP. These germs are believed to use energy more efficiently and break down otherwise indigestible fibres - and as a result, more of what the person eats is transformed into fat rather than excreted as waste. The researchers studied the genetic profile of intestinal bacteria found in faecal samples provided by 20 volunteers over nine weeks. The participants comprised five non-smokers, five smokers and 10 people who had quit smoking one week after the study began. Little difference was seen in the bacterial biodiversity among the persistent smokers and non-smokers. But among those who had just given up smoking, there was a clear shift towards more Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, the study showed. Over the study period, the people who had quit smoking also gained an average of 2.2 kilos (4.8 pounds), even though they insisted that their eating and drinking habits were unchanged. "Under the same living conditions, they gained weight after the cessation of smoking, and they showed a change in the microbiota," Rogler said. While researchers have yet to prove a clear connection between the two developments, he pointed out that a number of other studies have also showed a link between intestinal bacteria and weight gain. On Wednesday, a study published in the journal Nature found that individuals with low bacterial "richness" in their intestines were more prone to obesity and associated diseases such as diabetes, heart and cholesterol problems. Six bacterial species appear to play a key role in promoting this diversity. Rogler said that more research was needed to answer the many questions that arise from such discoveries. But he said it was clear we should pay more attention to how the environment influences gut functions. "Nobody believed the people who stopped smoking and said they weren't eating more but still gained weight. Perhaps we simply should be more willing to believe what people tell us," he said. - AFP/Relaxnews, August 30, 2013. |
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