Was the overthrow of Egyptian President Morsi a popular uprising or a military coup? Both! – "People were out there in millions and they were the most decisive factor," a Cairo activist noted correctly. But he continued, "I need the army to serve me now against the most dangerous group that would rule Egypt [Muslim Brotherhood] and I will settle my battles with [Army Chief] Al-Sisi later after he finishes his duties for me."
"What happened is complicated," responded another Cairo activist, "but your faith in what Sisi is orchestrating is honestly disturbing. People were out in the millions, but I fear many are being taken advantage of now."
He's right. Revolutionary workers and youth must reject the perilous "lesser-evil" theory. Otherwise they risk the same fate as the revolutionary Iranian masses who supported Khomeini against the hated Shah in 1979, then were wiped out when Khomeini consolidated power. Already, ultra-conservative Salafis are doing the generals' dirty work. They are among the antiwoman mobs who terrorize female activists with horrific gang rapes.

Al-Sisi doesn't work for the masses.
The generals are the core of the Egyptian capitalist class. They use power to protect their own profits, an extreme case of capitalist class dictatorship. This military/capitalist class owns some 40% of Egypt's economy, including industrial factories, gas stations, hotels, and the food chain from farms to processing plants to supermarkets. They directly exploit half a million workers. In March 2012, Maj. Gen. Nasr of the ruling military council, deputy defense minister for financial affairs, warned that "we will not allow anyone, whoever they may be, to come near the projects of the armed forces."
U.S. imperialists back these generals with at least $1.5 billion annually in military aid, and the coup isn't stopping them. The present crisis exposes US imperialism's growing weakness in this region, where it relies on Egypt to collaborate with Israel to maintain stability. Anti-Morsi activists blame Obama for supporting the authoritarian ex-president while pro-Morsi forces complain that Obama didn't save him.
If Egypt sinks into sectarian civil war (like Syria), it will be the masses who bleed. But US imperialism also stands to lose. Iran and Qatar are eager to expand their influence, and Russia and China wait in the wings. Even worse for the bosses, Egypt could erupt into a genuine class war—if workers and soldiers step forward to lead around communist ideas.

Egyptian workers fight back
Railroad workers conducted 1,219 strikes and sit-ins between January 2011 and January 2013. Workers at Alexandria's Kabo El-Nasr Clothing Textile Company held a week-long sit-in in May, demanding their unpaid salaries. They fought the cops sent to break up their protest march.
That same week, 350 Hi-Tech workers won back their jobs after being fired for demanding higher wages, better working conditions, and the firing of the manager. However, they were made to sign an agreement promising no more job actions, similar to one forced on workers at the Faragalla factory in February and at the Alexandria Portland Cement company. Their lawyer explained, "They want to work; they have no other choice." Another example of capitalist dictatorship!

Workers' other choice: mobilize the masses for communist revolution.
In communist society we'll collectively run the means of production (factories, farms, transportation, etc.) and share what we produce so that nobody goes hungry or homeless while others feast in luxury. All will have both work and leisure.
Communist leaders, now and in the future, live among the masses, sharing their hardships and their joys with no special privileges. To be a communist leader means building unbreakable ties among the masses and working collectively to advance the political struggle, mobilizing ever-increasing numbers for communism. Creative, energetic young revolutionaries in Egypt and elsewhere have demonstrated the power of the mobilized masses to topple regimes and send chills down the spines of imperialists and national capitalists alike. But to imagine, build and defend a radically new society, without exploitation or money, borders or racist, sexist or religious divisions among the masses, we need to organize ourselves into the International Communist Workers' Party.
Our party is not an electoral party maneuvering for a place in Parliament. We are a revolutionary party dedicated to destroying the capitalist dictatorship so that masses of workers can collectively shape our own future.
We are not an elite party for a "dedicated few" but a mass party where all can contribute their energy, skills, and creativity to the struggle for a communist world. We openly advocate communism always: we have confidence that the masses will fight for their own interests, not those of any capitalist-imperialist faction.
The Egyptian Army's fighting strength relies on draftees whose impoverished families are increasingly unwilling and unable to live in the old way. When these working-class soldiers ally with industrial workers to mobilize the masses for communist revolution, they will be an unstoppable force

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