Morsi-sisi burning

With all eyes on Egypt, Syria gets jealous and draws attention by crossing the red line. It is gas, not solids, that gets warships cruising. The UN, acting on its characteristic speed (takes Bin Laden off its sanctions list two years after his death), will surely pass a strong resolution ending with the ominous line: "Genocidal dictators, beware of our non-binding resolutions."
There are the usual exercises -- embassies pulling out 'non essential' employees. Which begs the question, if they are 'non essential,' what were they doing there in the first place?
In all fairness, Bashar-al-Assad and special envoy Kofi Annan did jointly declare a cease fire. Annan said: "Cease!" Everyone stopped firing. Assad then said: "Fire!" The firing resumed.
Meanwhile, the crimson tide in Egypt continues to determine who is really more popular, Sisi or Morsi. Perhaps they are confident of their popularities based on their own Twitter feeds.
President Obama, in a rare bi-partisan move, sends the veteran John McCain to Egypt as his envoy (G.W. Bush would have sent a convoy). Good choice. The Senator has experience dealing with the Egyptians since the Ramesses II Administration. Meanwhile, the Obama Administration continues to drool over whether to use the four letter word, 'coup.'
So, here are a couple of more dimensions to add to the Middle East peace process. Note, it is a 'process,' not a 'resolution.' I think that is the fundamental problem, focusing on the process rather than a few solid resolutions to establish peace in the region, once and for all. Oh wait, there's the other four letter word to take into account, 'veto,' the UN constipator, which can't be fixed even with a laxative.
The UN's policy on the Middle East remains as not having a policy on the Middle East. Don't hold your breath on it changing its motto anytime soon: "Making a better tomorrow, tomorrow." So, conflicting parties, just go ahead and declare peace! Even if no one cares about stopping bloodshed, sometimes declaring peace at least confuses the daylights out of the other side. And then, the UN can go ahead and send a special envoy -- Angelina Jolie. That will calm down the middle aged hormones.
Sigh…The US had Watergate. For Syria, it is Assadgate. With the desert on one side and the Red Sea on the other, Egypt is literally stuck between a (crumbled sea of) rock and a hard place (to swim in).
Egypt reminds us of President G.W. Bush saying: "I am gravely concerned that Hamas has won the Palestinian elections. However, democratic elections can sometimes produce unwelcome results." Couldn't agree more, as he said this right after his re-election in 2005…
How about a Facebook page style election? A 'like' is a vote and can be cast or withdrawn at anytime. As soon as the number of 'likes' go below that of the first runner up, the latter is immediately sworn into office. Hey, this could be a solution right here in a few months time…
Uh, oh! Mark Zuckerberg may now be in the line of fire, for creating Facebook.

The writer is an engineer & CEO turned comedian (by choice) and the host of NTV's Grameenphone Presents The Naveed Mahbub Show. E-mail: [email protected]